This is a massive opportunity for Daniel Dubois, headlining in America for the first time and fighting to gain a foothold in the heavyweight scene.
A win against WBA regular champion Trevor Bryan puts him back in the picture big time. Dubois is rebuilding after the defeat to Joe Joyce. He has been training with my son Shane for a little over a year now and is bursting to show the gains he has made.
The way to do that is to win in spectacular style here in Miami on Saturday night. That’s what he has come here to do. Bryan is better than his knockout record suggests, (15 in 22, compared with Dubois, 16 in 18). He has a decent jab and reasonably quick hands. But he does not like to fight at pace. He can appear sluggish with too many of his fights going the distance or deep.
His split-decision victory in January against Jonathan Guidry, ranked 255th in the world by independent body Boxrec, was a classic example. That was the first defence of the vacant title he claimed by 11th-round stoppage over Bermane Stiverne 12 months prior. Before that he was in against journeymen.
For what it’s worth I think Dubois will bring the best out of him. I think Bryan is terrified, but that might give him some positive energy. This is the biggest fight of Bryan’s career. He is definitely pumped up. There is a degree of mystery about just how good he is. We won’t know until the bell goes. It will be up to Dubois to control the fight and lay it on Bryan, to take it to him.
Will Daniel Dubois beat Trevor Bryan? Let us know in the comments section below
Bryan clearly has a chip on his shoulder about not being taken seriously as a champion or contender. He sounds nervous to me. He talks an awful lot. Nerves are like heat. If you control the heat it can boil your water and heat your house. If you don’t it can burn your house down.
In other words nerves can be counter-productive. Dubois doesn’t say much. He prefers to do his talking in the ring. He is using his jab more, putting combinations together instead of looking for the KO from the get-go. That said this fight will not go the distance. Dubois has too much for Bryan. I’m expecting the end to come somewhere between rounds six and eight.
Follow Barry on Twitter at @ClonesCyclone and @McGuigans_Gym
