Shane McGuigan, the head trainer of Daniel Dubois, is hoping that his boxer will a top opponent in the second half of the year.
Last month, Dubois traveled to the United States to score a knockout of Trevor Bryan to capture the WBA “regular” belt. McGuigan would like to see Dubois avenge his sole career defeat, which came at the hands of Joe Joyce in 2020. Dubois was leading on the cards when he voluntarily took a knee for the full count due to a severe eye injury.
Joyce is the WBO’s mandatory challenger – which makes a rematch with Dubois an unlikely scenario for 2022.
“Joe Joyce has just won at the weekend [beating Christian Hammer in four rounds] and looked his typical self. He got hit a lot but he also overwhelmed his opponent Hammer in very quick fashion so he’s a very hard night’s work for anyone,” McGuigan told Sky Sports News.
“Maybe that’s a fight we can get down the line. Maybe in the not-too-distant future because they’re both at that stage of their careers. The fight was in the balance, the first one, so it’ll be a good fight as well. I think it’s a very hard fight but it’s a fight that he can win with the right strategy, with the right gameplan.”
McGuigan will also be keeping an eye on the outcome of this Saturday’s rematch between heavyweight veterans Kubrat Pulev and Dereck Chisora.
“There are some great fights out there for him. You’ve got [Dereck] Chisora vs [Kubrat] Pulev. I think Pulev will probably win that fight, Pulev’s a great fight for someone like Daniel if he comes through the Chisora one,” McGuigan continued.
“Dillian Whyte’s a great fight for Daniel. I’m not sure Dillian will want it because of where he is in his career. There’s easier fights for him that will make more money and draw more attention, so that one might be a hard one to make.”
“Also the fact that Dan’s got a WBA ‘regular’ title can help bring in decent names. So there’s quite a lot of opponents. But I would like someone that’s known, someone that people know, whether it’s a former [Anthony Joshua] opponent, even a former Dillian Whyte opponent, [where] he can try and better that performance.”
