Irate boxing manager Sam Jones has slammed internet trolls who predicted “baby” Daniel Dubois would KO his client Joe Joyce.
Ranting to Queensberry Promotions ‘Lockdown Lowdown’, the Derby man fumed: “Joe has beaten Majidov, Tony Yoka, Frazer Clarke, Filip Hrgovic. He’s done all of them in the amateurs.
“He beat Bryant Jennings in his last outing… a world class heavyweight who took Wladimir Klitschko twelve rounds. Daniel Dubois has beaten nobody, amateur or professional. That’s just facts.”
Questioning Hall-of-Fame promoter Frank Warren’s masterplan to guide 22-year-old Heavyweight prospect Daniel Dubois to a World title, Jones’ believes that ‘Dynamite’ simply isn’t ready to step in the ring with ‘The Juggernaut’.
“Joe Joyce is going to have too much experience for him, too much know-how for him.
“Daniel’s had no in-between fights. Fujimoto to Joe Joyce? You’re taking the p*ss.”
Turning his fire on the internet boxing community, who had confidently predicted a Dubois victory in any clash with Joe, he insisted: “Let me tell you something now, when I was out in Vegas with Joe he looked unbelievable. I don’t care what the trolls say, Joe Joyce would have beaten Daniel Dubois on April 11th.
“(Daniel’s) not the finished article. I think he’ll be a great fighter down the line, but it’s disrespectful that people write Joe off.
“He’s going to get found out. I know who Daniel was planning on sparring in his camp and even that’s disrespectful to Joe. We were sparring undefeated professional heavyweights, we were taking it very seriously.”
Joyce was originally slated to fight Dubois on April 11th but the event was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Since lockdown began, though, social media has been abuzz with discussions about potential ‘fantasy’ fights and where the two British behemoths might go next in their career.
One such ‘dream match’ was the mooted Daniel Dubois vs. Deontay Wilder contest, with promoter Frank Warren insisting he’d put his young Heavyweight in with the former WBC Champ right now.
Jones’ says he understands Warren’s confidence but reckons Dubois would find himself in deep waters with the ‘Bronze Bomber’.
“He’s Frank’s baby isn’t he, Dubois? So Frank’s not going to say ‘oh no, Deontay Wilder would take his head off’ but I look at the fight against Richard Lartey – if Daniel Dubois tried to swing arms with Deontay Wilder like that he’d be asleep until the virus is gone.”
Whilst he is adamant that he and Joyce are focused on Dubois, Jones’ isn’t immune to speculation himself and has an elaborate battle plan laid out for Joe’s next three fights.
“Joe would fight any man in the world,” he said. “We’ll wipe out Daniel Dubois, get him out the way and then we want Jarrell Miller. It’s the fight we’ve wanted for ages. It’s personal for Joe. They had a back and forth before so that fight needs to happen. Doesn’t matter where, Baby Miller is next.
“After that it’s a world title.”
Asked by interviewer Dev Sahni whether he’d prefer that potential World title tilt to be against Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua, Jones’ wasted no time in picking ‘The Gypsy King’.
“I would prefer Joe to face Tyson Fury. For the simple reason he’s the king of this era. You want to test yourself against the best. If you’re a professional footballer you want to play against Cristiano Ronaldo, you want to play against Lionel Messi. It’s the same for Joe.
“If Joe just beats Anthony Joshua, he still wouldn’t be considered number one.”
