By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten heavyweight hopeful Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois of England steps back into the ring this Saturday, August 29th when he takes on Ricardo Snijders of Holland in Stratford, England. The 12-round bout for Dubois’ WBO International Heavyweight Title can be seen live in America on ESPN+ while those in the UK can catch the action on BT Sport. Dubois last fought in December when he stopped Kyotaro Fujimoto of Japan in the second round. Snijders last fought in September when he stopped Istvan Kin in the second round.
Dubois also stopped Ebenezer Tetteh in the second round last September for the vacant Commonwealth and WBO International Titles and the 22-year-old is now 14-0 with 13 big Ko’s. He also stopped Nathan Gorman in the fifth round in July, 2019 for the vacant British Heavyweight Title so has racked up several belts since turning pro. Dubois hails from London and is basically being groomed as the next great British heavyweight. He reportedly dropped Anthony Joshua a couple of years ago during a sparring session and is often compared to him.
Those comparisons are easy to understand since Dubois is also a pretty big heavyweight as he stands 6-feet-5-inches tall with a 78-inch reach and has stopped 13 of his 14 opponents for a current 92.3 per cent knockout ratio. Like Joshua, Dubois also enjoyed a fine amateur career, losing just six of 75 bouts and winning gold medals at various tournaments. He didn’t fight in the Olympics though as he decided to turn pro instead.
Dubois has been brought along cautiously since turning pro in April of 2017. He’s been pretty active but has just 41 rounds of experience under his belt due to his power. His opponents thus far have been Fujimoto, Tetteh, Gorman, Marcus Kelly, Blaise Mendouo, David Howe, Mauricio Barragan, AJ Carter, Dorian Darch, DL Jones, Tom Little, Kevin Johnson, Razvan Cojanu and Richard Lartey with Johnson being the only man to last the distance.
After fighting a few recognizable names in Little, Gorman, Cojanu and Johnson, Dubois is back to taking on a relative unknown. He usually tips the scales between 230 and 240 lbs and his career has been based on his power. He can cause damage with either hand but isn’t really the most mobile heavyweight in the ring. He has decent hand speed though and is determined to make a name for himself in the division. It’s hard to say how good his chin is at this point since it hasn’t been tested.
Snijders is a 26-year-old unknown with a mark of 18-1 with 8 Kos. He’s boxed 111 rounds since making his pro debut in 2016. There’s actually no height and reach information on him so we don’t know how he stacks up in size with Dubois. He has average power though with a current knockout ratio of 42.1 per cent. This will be just his second fight outside of his homeland.
The first time Snijders left Holland to fought was in May of last year and it resulted in a 12-round unanimous decision loss to Joel Tambe Djeko for the vacant IBO Inter-Continental Cruiserweight Title. He was also dropped in the 10th round along the way. Snijders won the vacant Dutch Heavyweight Title in April, 2018 when he stopped Eriks Kalasnikovs in the second round. He also won the vacant BeNeLux Cruiserweight title earlier that year.
Prediction…
Dubois hopes to land a shot against fellow Brit Joe Joyce later this year and this is basically just a tuneup to keep him busy. However, sooner or later he’s going to have to step up the level of competition on a consistent basis. Snijders was brought in as an opponent who’s expected to lose, but as we know anything can happen when heavyweights land a clean shot on the chin. Still, fans should expect Dubois to retain his minor belt.
