By: Hans Themistode
Daniel Dubois could barely see once he walked back to the locker room following his bout against Joe Joyce. The heavyweight prospect suffered a badly damaged left orbital bone along with several other ailments. But while the physical aches and pains bothered him for weeks on end, the mental anguish was even worst.
For the British native, everything was clicking for him. He picked up notable wins against the likes of Kevin Johnson as well as Nathan Gorman and had the backing of just about everyone as boxing’s next big star. Even WBC/Ring magazine titlist Tyson Fury believed the heavy-hitting contender was going to rule the heavyweight division in just a few short years.
Yet, following a tenth round defeat at the hands of Joyce just a few months ago, many have questioned whether or not he’ll be able to pick up the pieces of his shattered confidence. After staying away from social media and interviewers all together since his defeat, Dubois finally looked himself in the mirror and faced questions such as whether or not he’ll take the defeat as a learning experience or will he tuck his tail between his legs and run?
Apparently, Dubois has chosen the former.
“It was a devastating setback for me,” said Dubois during a self-recorded video. “It was a tough year for everyone with the spread of COVID-19 but I refuse to let this set me back. I will come back and get back to my boxing.”
During the clip which lasted only two minutes, Dubois was shown working on his physique in an empty park area. The physical part of Dubois’s game has never been questioned but the manner in which he lost to Joyce has brought about a seemingly never-ending wave of criticism.
Although Dubois was on the winning end in much of his exchanges with Joyce, he found the persistent jab of his man both an irritant and detrimental. With three rounds left in their showdown, Dubois was winning on the judge’s scorecards. But while he was doing just enough to eke out the rounds, Joyce was causing serious damage to the left eye of Dubois.
What appeared to be a fairly light landed jab from Joyce in the tenth round, actually proved to be the straw that broke the camels back for Dubois. The 23-year-old took the blow, walked a few feet back and as Joyce made his way towards him to follow up, Dubois took a knee. From there, he was counted out. In the mind of many, Dubois was viewed as taking the cowardly way out. The vast majority of the boxing world wanted to see the British product either go out on his shield or fight when his back was against the wall.
Although he hasn’t responded to his critics, Dubois has heard them loud and clear. With what many believed to be a career-ending injury, he was recently given the green light to return to the ring in April.
In terms of who could be next for the quiet, yet immensely motivated heavyweight doesn’t seem to matter. Whether it’s a journeymen level fighter or one of the best in the world, Dubois plans on wrecking the division in a major way.
“I will iron out all of my imperfections and trust me, I will be back with a vengeance.”