British heavyweight Daniel Dubois has trolled the much older Anthony Joshua for demanding respect as both fighters gear up for their world title clash later in September.
The 26-year-old Dubois will defend his International Boxing Federation world heavyweight title against Nigerian-Briton Joshua, 34, on September 21 at the Wembley Stadium in London.
Dubois was upgraded to full champion status when Oleksandr Usyk relinquished his IBF belt, while Joshua will be attempting to become a three-time world champion.
The two almost came to blows with during a face-off last month.
Joshua threatened to hit Dubois over the head with a chair as they squared up to one another with the former champion demanding his younger opponent show him “respect”.
But Dubois has hit back, telling Queensberry Promotions: “He was warning me, if you’re going to do something, just do it. It’s mind games and all of that trickery. I’m ready to fight, I’m sick of all these questions, i just want to get in the ring and fight.
“I’m not sure what I was thinking, I was just going with it. Words were exchanged but it didn’t mean anything to me. Disrespect is not the right word, this is boxing and there’s no respect in the ring.
“If you want respect go and become a lawyer or a doctor or something. This is the fight game and I’m ready to go out there and fight now.”
Dubois also bristled at the suggestion he is not a legitimate world champion having not won the belt in the ring.
He defeated Filip Hrgovic in June to become the interim IBF champion before being upgraded.
He added: “I won that in the fight, that was a world title fight and I won it. I’m a legitimate champion so put some respect on my name, bro, put some respect on my name, put some respect on my name, b**.”
Meanwhile, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn believes his man is firing on all cylinders. “The vibe I get is that the fear of losing is not really there any more. Because of the Ruiz and Usyk defeats you’ve been there and experienced that and know how much it hurts,” the Matchroom promoter said.
“We don’t look at this fight and think the pressure’s on because if you lose to Dubois, what could happen? We’re just excited for the fight. AJ’s having a great camp, he’s working well with (trainer) Ben Davison and is firing on all cylinders. No fear of losing. At this stage he takes on all challengers and this one just happens to have a world championship attached to him.
“It’s a dangerous fight and it will be really interesting to see if Dubois can handle the pressure because I know he boxed against Usyk in Poland, but this is going to be a moment that makes his knees knock. You need to have not just a big set of bollocks, but also a really strong mind to compose yourself in those moments. Whatever the gameplan is, I think he’ll struggle to adopt it in there.”
