I’m breaking boxing’s confidentiality rules… Daniel Dubois KO’d Anthony Joshua in sparring while AJ was unconscious for 5 minutes

It will come as a surprise to most if Daniel Dubois knocks out Anthony Joshua at Wembley on Saturday, but it would be the second time he has flattened him.

One of the many unwritten rules of conduct in boxing is that what happens in the gym, stays there.

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But I’ve decided to break boxing’s rule of omerta and reveal what happened between Joshua and Dubois behind the closed doors of a Sheffield gym ten years ago.

Dubois, then a teenage amateur, was sent to Yorkshire to work with the much more experienced Joshua as part of his training, and together they fought dozens of rounds.

One day they were going to have a quiet sparring session and when they started there was no hint of the drama that was to come.

Whether it was youthful exuberance or whether he meant it that way, only Daniel knows, but out of nowhere he gave Joshua a hard left hook to the chin and he was knocked unconscious.

The force of the blow was so great that Joshua, my informant, who wishes to remain anonymous, assured me, needed five minutes to recover from the terrible blow.

The shocked Joshua camp demanded that those who filmed the incident on their phones delete them.

Although the story quickly spread, it was vehemently denied and dismissed as a malicious rumor.

It is possible his memory will give the 27-year-old Dubois an extra psychological boost when he defends his IBF heavyweight world title against Joshua in London.

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ANTHONY JOSHUA VS DANIEL DUBOIS: All the information you need for the huge world title clash at Wembley

I feel I have a personal interest in both men, and SunSport readers were first made aware of their potential in this column.

It’s been 14 years since I sat on the ring platform with the impressive 20-year-old Joshua at Finchley ABC, shortly after he won the ABA title.

Joshua told me he turned down an offer of £50,000 to turn pro because he wanted to compete in the London Olympics.

Dubois took a completely different path: he passed up the chance of Olympic gold in Tokyo and turned professional at the age of 20, despite having played only a few matches with the senior amateurs.

AJ and Dubois are explosive boxers and will most likely have a ‘tear in their eyes’, as Nigel Benn would say.

The shocked Joshua camp insisted that those who filmed the incident on their phones should delete them

It could come down to whoever scores a blockbuster first, meaning Dubois has every chance of beating the 3/10 favourite.

But Joshua has much more experience of big events in giant stadiums: this will be his seventh outdoor fight in Britain.

Unless AJ gets careless and shows his chin, I expect him to be far too strong for Dubois.

And I’d be surprised if he didn’t get the job done in the fourth round.

Joshua vs Dubois Fight Predictions

THIS weekend, Wembley will see one of the biggest British fights of all time.

But who will emerge victorious under the famous arch? Some of the biggest names in boxing have had their say…

Oleksandr Usyk: “My favorite is Anthony Joshua, but I’m very bad at predicting. But I will predict Anthony Joshua.”

Dillian Whyt: “I think it’s just one of those fights where, as far as I’m concerned, it’s really 50/50.”

Joe Joyce: “I initially had a soft spot for Joshua, but I’m not sure. Dubois is coming.”

Frazer Clarke: “No matter how tough Dubois is and how good he fights, I still choose Joshua.”

Francis Ngannou: “Even though Joshua lost to Usyk twice and Dubois fought Usyk, almost knocked him down and almost won, I would still give this to Joshua.”

Click here for more Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois fight predictions