Rebuilding Daniel Dubois: How he got his heart back after being labelled a ‘quitter’

In a world as brutal as boxing, there aren’t many criticisms that cut deeper than being labelled a quitter. In what is still a relatively young career, Daniel Dubois has faced those accusations and seen his heart questioned.

Plenty of work has been done behind the scenes to shed Dubois of that label with defeats to Joe Joyce and Oleksandr Usyk leaving lasting damage on his reputation and raising doubts over his role at the top of the heavyweight division. But Saturday’s showdown with Anthony Joshua – a bout he enters as world champion – completes something of a redemption story for the 27-year-old.

In his 2020 grudge match with Joyce, Dubois took a knee and refused to climb back up from the canvas as he was counted out in the 10^th round. During the contest, Joyce’s ramrod jab had done significant damage, fracturing his eye socket and cheekbone and causing nerve damage.

Four years on, the decision to stay down and live to fight another day that night has proved to be the correct one. But the criticism at the time was vicious.

‘I think he quit. I have to be brutally honest. His eye was closed, but I’d get dragged out of the ring, I wouldn’t take a knee,’ former world champion Carl Frampton said on punditry duty. ‘I was very unhappy with the way he took a knee,’ David Haye commented. ‘I’d rather get knocked spark out.’

After wounds had healed and dust had settled, four wins on the bounce earned Dubois a world title shot against Usyk in August 2023 as the mandatory challenger for the Ukrainian’s WBA title.

Despite getting back on track, the ‘quitter’ label still hadn’t quite washed away with former cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson telling us last year: ‘Dubois showed he has quit in his DNA. He has showed he has that in him.’

That night against Usyk, Dubois and promoter Frank Warren ‘felt cheated’ after a vicious right to the body that floored the champion was ruled a low blow. But once the fight resumed, Dubois had lost focus and did not have to killer instinct to finish a vulnerable opponent. Usyk recovered and the manner in which the Briton went out in the ninth round did little to help his cause.

Last December’s victory over Jarrell Miller went some way in rectifying that. In a fight where both men were desperate to prove to the world they deserve a second chance, Dubois stopped the American in the last seconds of the 10^th round.

His performance against Filip Hrgovic in June was even better – battering the previously undefeated Croatian into a bloody mess in what was the biggest win of his career to date.

‘Against Hrgovic, he stuck at it, stayed determined and showed that heart that was missing before,’ Nelson, who previously aimed some of the most searing criticism at Dubois, now tells .

‘He got hit a lot but broke Hrgovic’s heart and showed that if you have any chinks in your armour, he will find them. It must hurt when people question you about that. When people question important things about your character when they don’t really know you personally, it is difficult.’

Former lightweight champion Anthony Crolla is another who has watched Dubois transform over the last 12 months and believes resolve and determination are now two of his biggest attributes.

‘Daniel has turned a lot of those doubters into believers,’ Crolla told Metro.co.uk, courtesy of Free Bets. ‘A lot of that is down to maturity and I believe he is now a very different fighter than the one he was a few years ago.

‘The Jarell Miller fight did wonders for him. People were asking questions of his heart but he came through that adversity. There were moments in that fight where if he had no heart, he would have quit. But he came through it. Against Hrgovic, there were shots early on that would have made a lot of other fighters quit. But he came forward and broke him down.’

Dubois spent his early career working under the guidance of Martin Bowers at the Peacock Gym in Canning Town, deciding to change things after the defeat to Joyce. After a very brief spell with Mark Tibbs, the Londoner linked with up Shane McGuigan in what promised to be a very fruitful partnership. But by May 2023, there was another split with Dubois this time aligning himself with Don Charles.

Charles is the long-time trainer of Derek Chisora, a fighter who possesses the unflinching never-say-die attitude that Dubois has been accused of lacking.

Something appears to have clicked in Dubois, with Crolla believing the presence of Charles in his corner has been something of a catalyst.

‘Don Charles deserves a lot of credit. Daniel of course too, but Don has done wonders,’ Crolla said. ‘He’s a good calming influence on Daniel and he’s a very good man to have in his corner when he is being led into battle. Don has given him that belief.

‘He’s had a few trainers on his journey. Martin Bowers matured a special talent at the early stages, Shane played his part too. Don is doing a great job right now but all these names are fantastic coaches and he has taken a little bit from each of him.’

In Joshua, Dubois has an opponent who has been similarly lambasted when things have not gone to plan. The 2019 loss to Andy Ruiz Jr and back-to-back defeats to Usyk left plenty of questions for Joshua to answer, something he has done admirably with victories over Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou over the last 18 months.

‘Joshua had the same doubts cast upon him, especially after the Usyk defeats,’ Nelson continued. ‘His heart, desire and hunger was questioned and Anthony Joshua had to grow up and address those concerns in public to make him the fighter he is once again. Because he is scarred by how people have previously questioned his heart, his desire. Daniel Dubois is going through the exact same thing.’

Dubois was 22 years old the night he was left broken and beaten into submission by Joyce. His experiences over the last year have left him battle-hardened with another war against Joshua this weekend perhaps coming at just the right time.