- Rumours have spread that Daniel Dubois has sacked his trainer Don Charles
- But these rumours have been denied by the Brit’s promotional team
- Dubois is due to defend his IBF title against Anthony Joshua on Saturday
Daniel Dubois will reportedly have Don Charles in his corner this weekend for his heavyweight clash with Anthony Joshua, despite rumours he has sacked his head trainer.
Dubois and Charles teamed up last year ahead of the Brit taking on Ukrainian great Oleksandr Usyk in Poland. Charles was unable to lead his charge to victory that night, but has since guided him to impressive wins over Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic.
Dubois was subsequently named IBF heavyweight champion after Usyk vacated the belt, and is due to make his first defence against domestic foe Joshua at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night. But Charles was nowhere to be seen at the grand arrivals or the open workout earlier this week, leading to rumours that he had been fired just days before Dubois enters the ring.
However, talkSPORT boxing editor Michael Benson has denied that Dubois and Charles have parted ways.
In a post on X on Wednesday night, Benson wrote: ‘Told by a rep for Frank Warren’s Queensberry that Don Charles remains Daniel Dubois’ head trainer despite rumours to the contrary and he will indeed be in his corner as planned for the Anthony Joshua fight on Saturday night.’
Rumours have spread on social media that Daniel Dubois (right) has sacked his trainer Don Charles (left)
But Dubois’ promotional team have claimed Charles is still expected to be in his corner this weekend
Dubois is due to face fellow Brit Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night
Charles is the third permanent trainer of Dubois’ career. He started off in the professional ranks under Martin Bowers, before switching to the highly-rated Shane McGuigan.
Dubois won the WBA (Regular) heavyweight title under McGuigan’s tutelage by beating America’s Trevor Bryan in June 2022, but moved on from him after struggling past South Africa’s Kevin Lerena six months later.
He suffered a serious knee injury in that fight, and after a lengthy recovery period turned to Charles.
The 27-year-old has produced arguably the two best performances of his career with Charles in his corner, and it would be a huge shock if he did get rid of him.
But Charles is famous for training veteran heavyweight Derek Chisora, who is a close friend of Joshua’s.
Whether this has played a part in the rumours of him being sacked is unclear, but Dubois’ team have denied that Charles has been moved on ahead of the domestic dust-up, and he is still expected to train Dubois for the biggest fight of his life this weekend.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk