Daniel Dubois remains one of the brighter prospects of heavyweight boxing and proved his doubters wrong with an impressive stoppage win over the controversial Jarrell Miller on December 23.
In the contest, which was not plain-sailing for the Londoner, Dubois showed heart and grit to bite down on his gum shield as he survived Miller’s pressure and volume of punches during the middle rounds.
Dubois, who has had two defeats against 20 wins, had been accused of lacking heart and self-belief following losses to Joe Joyce and Oleksandr Usyk.
Promoter Frank Warren has handled Dubois throughout his career and recently sat down with DAZN, discussing Dubois, amongst other topics.
Warren blasted the criticism that Dubois has been subjected to.
“He needed that [win over Miller], he needed that big time,” Warren admitted. “There were a lot of doubters there. I was a little bit disappointed by a certain number of fighters, who were quite cruel in some of the things that were said.
“What I mean by that is when he fought Joe Joyce, he fractured his eye socket in four places; he nearly had a detached retina. One more punch, it would have detached his retina – that would have been the end of his career. He did the right thing. The things people said about it, they forget at the time he was in front on the judges’ cards.”
Warren believes Dubois will earn more opportunities now he has proven his heart to his critics following victory over Miller.
“What I saw in his last fight was this – he had to dig deep against a guy who fancied the job, in Jarrell Miller,” Warren added. “Tough guy, big guy, big lump, big fella, fast hands and thought that he had outpsyched him leading up to the fight – I mean, he made a lot of comments about Daniel’s heart.
“All these things going on, when that bell goes, that’s the only time you’re gonna know. And when that bell went, he got into it and showed what he was all about.
“He’s only a young man, and he’s got himself right up there in the top echelons of all the heavyweights, and he’s gonna be involved in some big fights this year, there’s no doubt about that.”
