Tyson Fury weighed in after Daniel Dubois stopped Fabio Wardley on May 9 in Manchester to win the WBO heavyweight title, using the moment to take another shot at Anthony Joshua. In Fury’s view, Dubois’ recent run says less about his punching power than it does about Joshua’s durability.
That matters in a heavyweight division still sorting out its post-Usyk hierarchy. With Oleksandr Usyk holding a grip on the top of the class and Fury and Joshua both hovering around the title picture, Dubois’ emergence gives the division a younger, dangerous name who can force big-money fights on both sides of the Atlantic.
Fury’s argument was simple: Dubois stopped Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Wardley, but none of them were dropped before the referee intervened. He also pointed to Dubois landing big shots on Usyk without scoring a knockdown. Joshua, meanwhile, was dropped five times when he faced Dubois — the comparison Fury used to hammer home his criticism.
Whether Fury is trolling, analyzing or doing both, the comments land because Joshua’s chin and recovery have become part of the public conversation in a way they once weren’t. For American fans, that’s a major angle. Joshua was long marketed in the U.S. as a crossover superstar, but his losses and knockdowns have shifted the discussion from global icon to whether he can still be trusted against elite punchers.
Dubois has his own stakes here too. Beating Wardley gave him another statement win, but the bigger question is whether he can turn momentum into a defining fight against either Usyk, Fury or Joshua. If he keeps winning, he stops being a dangerous contender and becomes the central figure in the next phase of the division.
For now, Fury has made sure the spotlight stays on Joshua’s vulnerability — and the next move at heavyweight will determine whether that talking point grows even louder.