ANTHONY Joshua has denied rumours that he had once been knocked out in training by Daniel Dubois while also declaring that he would not allow himself to be bullied.
The Nigerian-Briton Joshua faces fellow Brit Dubois in a heavyweight boxing showdown at Wembley, London on September 21 for the International Boxing Federation belt, which Oleksandr Usyk vacated in favour of a rematch with Tyson Fury.
Joshua, 34, admitted that the much younger Dubois ‘cracked’ him but did not knock him out in sparring years ago.
Joshua, a previous holder of the IBF belt, trained with Dubois when the latter was part of the Great Britain squad but insists that rumours he was floored by the Londoner were wide of the mark.
“I knew Daniel from the GB squad. I’d just turned professional but I stayed around the GB squad. I’d still train there, so we would spar. Good spars,” two-time world heavyweight champion Joshua told Sky Sports last night after the Dubois bout was announced.
“This whole conversation that you’re trying to get at, he just cracked me with a good shot. But I stood on my feet.
“I don’t know where this whole narrative that someone turned my lights off came from. There was a lot of people that were in the gym that day. And they’ve come out and said nothing happened.”
Joshua, who is looking to become only the sixth three-time heavyweight world champion in history, insisted that the 26-year-old Dubois stood no chance of knocking him out.
“Look, people say what they say. And with me, there’s always been an inch that makes a mile, but it’s all good,” Joshua added.
“I’m not saying he has the chance to do it on September 21, because sometimes what you speak comes into existence, but I won’t let it happen and I’ll show you how good I am.
“Whether it’s in the ring sparring or in the ring fighting, I won’t let anyone manhandle me or try and knock me out. No way.”
Dubois said he had no interest in the past, adding: “I don’t want to talk about no sparring or none of that. It happened seven years ago, and to be honest, I can’t remember that.”
While Joshua has a professional record of 28 wins (25 via knockout) and three losses, Dubois has won 21 of his fights (20 knockouts) lost two.
