- Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois will face each other for the belt on September 21
- The pair almost came to blows when they came face to face at Wembley Arena.
Daniel Dubois has told boxing promoter Eddie Hearn to calm down in a heated exchange ahead of the British star’s showdown with Anthony Joshua.
The British pair will meet for the IBF heavyweight title at Wembley Stadium on September 21 after the fight was announced in June.
Ahead of the fight, Dubois, Joshua, Hearn and Frank Warren sat down for a showdown where tempers almost boiled over after Matchroom’s boxing boss poked holes in Dubois’ June win over Filip Hrgovic.
Talking about DAZNHearn said: ‘He (Hrgovic) was (on his way out), but he also took the kitchen sink out of it.
“And you took the kitchen sink away, which was very impressive. And I have incredible respect for you for that.
Eddie Hearn (right) was involved in a heated debate before the Anthony Joshua fight (left)
Daniel Dubois (right) told Hearn to “calm down” as they discussed their upcoming title fight.
“But you don’t have to take the kitchen sink out of it, you just have to grab a cocktail stick.”
Dubois pushed back on Hearn’s criticism, saying: “It’s okay, I’m not going to fight you, Eddie.”
Hearn quickly responded: “Well, thank God for that.” Dubois then said: “Calm down.”
Tensions rose again when Dubois told Joshua he was more than ready to “leave now” if he “wanted to fight.”
“Shut up, relax,” Joshua replied. “I’ll throw this damn chair in your face. Don’t disrespect me.”
Dubois tried to remain calm and said, “You can’t bully me, who do you think you are?”
That comment caused Joshua to get up from his seat and security had to separate them as Warren and Hearn looked on.
—Daniel, don’t disrespect me or I’ll smash this damn chair in your face, Joshua continued.
Dubois and Joshua eventually had to be separated after the latter threatened to throw a chair.
Joshua twice threatened to throw a chair at his opponent and the interview quickly turned sour.
‘Warn this boy not to disrespect me. I don’t take disrespect lightly, you know? Don’t sit at the table telling me we can go now, telling me this and that.
Promoter Warren said: “This was serious business. We didn’t need any gimmicks to sell this fight.”
‘Wembley Stadium will sell out in no time. Who wouldn’t want to see two British giants with tremendous punches go head to head? That’s what heavyweight boxing is all about.
“Daniel is already very prepared for this fight. And Joshua has a lot of pressure at this advanced stage of his career.”
Last month, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh revealed that the British title fight had sold out Wembley Stadium.
It was revealed in June that Joshua and Dubois will face off for the IBF belt on September 21.
Dubois cut short her Brazilian vacation on Rio’s bikini-filled Copacabana beach to fly home for this showdown.
He learned that the IBF had promoted him from interim world champion to absolute champion when he turned on his mobile phone upon landing.
“I saw the news on social media,” he said. “In a way, I would have preferred to win the title in the ring. But I’ll take care of that by beating AJ.”