Daniel Dubois on Saunders stoppage: No need to rub it in

On the heels of Billy Joe Saunders’ TKO loss on Saturday due to what sounds like a severe orbital injury, many in the boxing world were eager to hear from Daniel Dubois. While he would have been well within his rights to take Saunders to task, the 23-year-old British heavyweight prospect showed his maturity and empathy in an interview Monday.

“I think that Billy fought well. I thought he boxed well, I thought it was a close fight up until the point that it was stopped. He went out on his shield. They made their call, and it was the right decision I thought.”

After Dubois’ November 2020 loss to Joyce in which he suffered a severe eye injury of his own, Saunders had criticized him for not fighting through: “If my two eye sockets were broken, my jaw was broken, my teeth were out, my nose was smashed, my brain was beaten, I was not stopping until I was knocked out or worse. I don’t agree with a man taking the knee and letting the ref count him out.”

Dubois has chosen not to dwell on the past, using this incident as a reminder that words can have consequences.

“I think there’s no need to rub anything in. Rub it in for what? It’s not going to gain me nothing. Some things come back to haunt you. Me, I don’t want anything like that. If I go into a situation, I want to go into it with a clear conscience.”