Johnny Fisher: If Anthony Joshua beats Daniel Dubois he’s up with the best heavyweights again

Speaking to Coinpoker.com, professional boxer Johnny Fisher revealed he thinks Anthony Joshua can hang with the best heavyweights in the sport again if he beats Daniel Dubois next month at Wembley.

‘The Romford Bull’ believes Joshua is the favourite to win the box office showdown in London and added there was no shame in losing twice to ‘one of the best of this era’ in Oleksandr Usyk.

The 25-year-old, who boasts an impressive undisputed record with 12 wins including 11 knockouts, admitted the public have been too quick to write Joshua off as one of the top dogs in boxing.

Please read the full interview below:

How do you think the Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois fight will go down?

JF: “I still think Joshua is the favourite, but he’s got to be switched on as Ben Davison said the other day. He’s Joshua’s coach but he knows what it’s like being a heavyweight. Dubois is the hardest puncher I’ve ever sparred with. AJ is doing amazing things, people are too quick to write people off. He lost to Oleksandr Usyk twice, who is probably one of the best of this era. There’s no shame in that.

“You look at his resume as well, though – he’s beat Otto Wallin, Robert Helenius, Francis Ngannou and Jermaine Franklin. They’re not household names but his confidence is sky-high and if he beats Dubois, you can really say he’s up there with the best of the division again. If you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat Oleksandr Usyk.”

Going through that period where everyone was so quick to knock Joshua down, do you think that helped him?

JF: “That’s just the way the public is. I think as a boxer, you’ve got to shut yourself off from the negative stuff – and the positive stuff as well. All you’ve got to listen to is the people around you. There’s going to be noise about.

“There’s people who think I’m going to be a world champion within the next year and there’s also people who think I’m absolutely diabolically rubbish. Who cares? All that matters is my dad’s opinion, my trainer’s opinion and my promoter’s opinion.”

Have you spoken to Joe Joyce since his defeat to Derek Chisora? How is he feeling?

JF: “He’s feeling alright. It’s boxing, it’s sport at the end of the day. You want to try your best to win. It’s obviously gutting when you lose but it’s part of the game, isn’t it? You can’t go swimming and not get wet. You’re going to get caught, you’re going to get hit. Derek Chisora is a great opponent. He’s still alive and hanging in there, I like Derek as well.”

Have you spoken to Joe about what he’s going to do next?

JF: “I don’t really think it’s my place to talk to him about that sort of stuff. He’s obviously getting on a bit now but if he wants to fight I’m no one to stop him, you know, it’s not my place to say but it’s up to him.”

Eddie Hearn said you and Derek Chisora would sell out the O2 Arena, what did you think of that?

JF: “Probably would sell out the O2 to be fair. I’ve got a lot of respect for Chisora and I did share that message because it’s nice to be mentioned in the same breath as Chisora. I’ve got too much respect for Chisora to start calling him out and doing all this. He’s an experienced man and done a lot more than I’ve ever done. It’s down to whether or not he wants to do anything like that. I don’t know what his plans are.”

You take on Andriy Rudenko in August. How are you feeling about it, is it your toughest opponent yet? What’s the game plan?

JF: “Feeling good, ready to go. Been training hard, back to back camps. It’s what we train for and what we get paid to do, so it’s just doing your job as they say. He will be (the toughest opponent yet). He’s gone the distance with Zhilei Zhang, Hughie Fury and Alexander Povetkin. He’s fought Jared Anderson and it took him five rounds to get him out of there, so he’s a proud man and he’ll be tough.

“It’ll take me a little while to break him down. I’ll use the jab, express myself, express the skills that I’ve learned under Mark Tibbs and show what I’m about. I’m not just a knockout artist, I can box as well.”

If you beat Rudenko, is there a title fight down the line?

JF: “I’d love to fight for the English title. David Allen and I want to fight at the start of next year. We’ve also got talks of going to Australia at the end of this year, but I just want to win this fight first. That’s all that matters. If I don’t win this then nothing else matters, you know?”

Who is on your Mount Rushmore of boxers, past and present era?

JF: “First I’ll start with the oldies. We’ll go 1990s and backwards – Rocky Marciano, Henry Cooper, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson. Modern era – Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder and Oleksandr Usyk.”

What are the plans for next year?

JF: “Fight as regularly as I can again. Look at the English title early next year if it’s available and push towards that British title.”

You grew up in Romford, did you start playing rugby first before boxing?

JF: “I boxed first when I was about 6 or 7 years old. I played rugby when I went to university, I broke my hand playing rugby at sixth form. I played a bit of rugby at the University of Exeter when I was there, a really good set up. My friend Ellis Genge plays rugby for England. It’s great to be here with him because I’m an England rugby fan first and foremost.

“I picked up boxing again when I was 19. Started sparring Joe Joyce and David Allen, had a couple of amateur fights and just took it from there during COVID. It all sort of took off.”

What do you see for Moses Itauma in the future?

JF: “Great young talent. I think he’s going to be up there with the best in the world. He’s a formidable force, I’m excited to see how he develops as well. It’s a great time to be a British boxer. There’s some great British fighters out there. You’ve got Fabio Wardley, David Adeleye as well. Solomon Dacres. There’s some good names out there.”