In response to a former stablemate, Anthony Joshua was out on his ft in a sparring session with forthcoming opponent Daniel Dubois.
Joshua was saved from being put to sleep by Dubois, who refused to hold on when hurting his compatriot within the coaching session. Anthony Fowler, as soon as a GB teammate of Joshua’s, revealed the scenario as he noticed it.
“Joshua obtained caught with a brief left hook. His legs utterly went,” Fowler advised talkSPORT. “Dubois might have hit him once more and put him to sleep, however Dubois had a bit an excessive amount of respect for him to complete him off.
“Joshua’s legs had been like jelly. He needed to hold on, however Rob McCracken [former AJ coach] was like, ‘Have a bit of break, get your legs again to regular,’ then they continued. Dubois in all probability might have hit him once more and knocked him out, however he selected to not due to respect.”
Promoter Eddie Hearn has since denied the incidence in an interview with IFL TV.
“What I heard and what everybody was telling everybody was that AJ obtained carried out of the ring unconscious,” Hearn advised the YouTuber outfit. “That’s modified rather a lot to ‘he obtained buzzed by a shot, was out on his ft, however they carried on sparring.’
“You do know that in case you get harm in sparring, the sparring stops. So he obtained hit by a left hook apparently, then [Anthony] Fowler says he had a bit of stroll, after which they carried on. I don’t know what occurred throughout the spar, however each guys are huge punchers. The one factor I heard was that AJ obtained knocked out chilly, and clearly, we knew that wasn’t the case in any respect.”
Dubois will intention to place Joshua to sleep for actual at Wembley Stadium on September 21 as ‘DDD’ defends his IBF heavyweight title for the primary time.
Nonetheless, if Joshua can flip the tables and relieve Dubois of Usyk’s title, the Londoner might turn out to be a three-time heavyweight champion by choosing up his second vacated belt.
Learn all articles and unique interviews by Phil Jay. Study extra concerning the writer, skilled boxing author, and World Boxing Information Editor since 2010. Comply with on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
