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Daniel Dubois removes Martin Bowers as his trainer and is set to appoint Mark Tibbs as his replacement as he looks to rebuild his career after defeat against Joe Joyce - and has been told by doctors he CAN fight again in April

• Daniel Dubois has removed Martin Bowers as his trainer after Joe Joyce loss

• Bowers will remain as his manger but Mark Tibbs is set to be his new trainer

Daniel Dubois has removed Martin Bowers as his trainer and is set to appoint Mark Tibbs as his new head coach, Sportsmail can reveal.

Dubois has taken the decision to shake up his team after suffering his first professional defeat against Joe Joyce in November, but Bowers will remain as his manager.

The 23-year-old is looking to get his career back on track after having his eye socket broken in that defeat but has been told by doctors this morning he will be able to fight again in April with his recovery progressing well.

The British heavyweight has been working with Bowers at the Peacock gym since turning over, but is now in discussions with Tibbs, who also trains Billy Joe Saunders, about guiding his career going forward.

Dubois had been sky-rocketing towards a heavyweight world title shot but must now rebuild after being bullied into submission by the more experienced Joyce back in November.

He is already back in training ahead of his expected comeback in the spring but will have to hold off from sparring for at least another three weeks as his eye continues to heal.

Strange decision. Tibbs is a good trainer but I always find it a bit disheartening when fighters ditch their trainer after their first loss.

There are occasional times when it clearly would make sense for a fighter to leave their trainer (Anthony Yarde with Tunde) but not sure I agree with this one.

For me the problem is not the trainer for DDD

I don't think he believes in himself and his abilities enough,he seems to lack assertion and grit,others may see it differently but I sense a lack of self belief with dubois

maverick23 wrote: ↑05 Feb 2021, 07:24 Strange decision. Tibbs is a good trainer but I always find it a bit disheartening when fighters ditch their trainer after their first loss.

There are occasional times when it clearly would make sense for a fighter to leave their trainer (Anthony Yarde with Tunde) but not sure I agree with this one.

He's still retaining him but as a manager.

It's like Whyte splitting with Tibbs before the Povetkin fight, they said it's mostly due to Tibbs not being in Portugal for the training camp. it was after this HE LOST.

Daniel Dubois would have been KO'd before Joe Joyce fight, if he had faced me first, says Erik Pfeifer

Erik Pfeifer had been set to fight Daniel Dubois last summer but the British heavyweight faced a different opponent before his unbeaten record was dramatically ended in a domestic clash with Joe Joyce

Erik Pfeifer says he would have knocked out Daniel Dubois before Joe Joyce, if he had not been denied the opportunity to fight the British heavyweight last summer.

The German contender, who twice beat Olympic gold medallist Tony Yoka in the amateurs, had been scheduled to face Dubois in August, but was replaced by Ricardo Snijders at 10 days' notice.

Dubois floored Snijders on four occasions in a second-round stoppage and Pfeifer insists he was physically ready to provide a far sterner test for the 23-year-old.



"Everyone knows why they took another guy and fight with them, not with me," Pfeifer told Sky Sports.

"They only told me one week before the fight. I was the whole time in training and was happy to fight with Daniel Dubois, and then they changed me. It was not fair and wasted all my camp.

"We had a press conference and I see up close fear in his eyes. He quit against me before he quit against Joyce. He has no heart and is not a real fighter. He is a quitter."

Joyce would inflict a 10th-round knockout loss on Dubois, just a few months later, and Pfeifer believes he could have delivered a similarly crushing defeat.

I think so. When he hits someone, he just stands there. That's a mistake," said Pfeifer. "Technically, I'm much better than Daniel Dubois."

Pfeifer was fully aware of Joyce's threat, having fought similar elite amateurs, and would relish the opportunity to battle the Olympic silver medallist in the future.

"I wish Joyce a lot of good fights," said Pfeifer. "He's a good guy, I like him. Hopefully we can have a fight between us.

"I would love to fight everybody."

Tibbs has probably done a bit with him already. They were all in house at The Peacock.

Be interesting to see DDD's reaction to the first hard punch right on the eye, won't matter who the trainer is if he isn't over it mentally

Shhhh wrote: ↑05 Feb 2021, 11:52 I've heard it can be a little dangerous to upset the Bowers isn't it?

And Tibbs. Considering they’re from the same area and shared a gym for years, you’d imagine they’re pals.

In the Joyce fight, Bowers came across as clueless in the corner. He should have pulled Dubois out and saved him from all the stick he got.

Oiky wrote: ↑05 Feb 2021, 07:32 For me the problem is not the trainer for DDD

I don't think he believes in himself and his abilities enough,he seems to lack assertion and grit,others may see it differently but I sense a lack of self belief with dubois

He had a lot of yes men around him I thought. The moment he started landing a few on Joyce and he just got stared back at I’d imagine he thought ‘but I thought I was the hardest hitting heavyweight in the World!’

jameswilson wrote: ↑05 Feb 2021, 12:21

Oiky wrote: ↑05 Feb 2021, 07:32 For me the problem is not the trainer for DDD

I don't think he believes in himself and his abilities enough,he seems to lack assertion and grit,others may see it differently but I sense a lack of self belief with dubois

He had a lot of yes men around him I thought. The moment he started landing a few on Joyce and he just got stared back at I’d imagine he thought ‘but I thought I was the hardest hitting heavyweight in the World!’

I don’t think they were yes men as such. Maybe overestimated DDD’s current standing in the division. You could clearly hear Bowers bollocking him, the only problem was, Bowers looked more surprised than Dan.

To be fair to Dan. He hardly had a real fight before Joyce, he was just knocking everyone over. He may emerge a better fighter now.

jameswilson wrote: ↑05 Feb 2021, 12:21

Oiky wrote: ↑05 Feb 2021, 07:32 For me the problem is not the trainer for DDD

I don't think he believes in himself and his abilities enough,he seems to lack assertion and grit,others may see it differently but I sense a lack of self belief with dubois

He had a lot of yes men around him I thought. The moment he started landing a few on Joyce and he just got stared back at I’d imagine he thought ‘but I thought I was the hardest hitting heavyweight in the World!’

I'm just not sure he believes in himself mate,even that new video of him on IFL TV seems to me like he's just going through the motions,just saying what he thinks he should be saying

All due respect I agree that he hadn't been in a proper fight,but you've still got to believe in yourself at all times,and I just don't think DDD does,I hope he comes back and maintains some good form,he's young, but is he hungry?

Well see

maverick23 wrote: ↑05 Feb 2021, 07:24 Strange decision. Tibbs is a good trainer but I always find it a bit disheartening when fighters ditch their trainer after their first loss.

Saving face. Everyone knows its an excuse.

BigDoofus wrote: ↑05 Feb 2021, 12:13 In the Joyce fight, Bowers came across as clueless in the corner. He should have pulled Dubois out and saved him from all the stick he got.

He seemed panicked quite early on. I've commented on his corner advice during that fight before and, as pointed out previously, he's quite a scary bloke in real life, so all I'll say is that he probably realised that he should have made the call to pull Dan out (I really think when Daniel goes down on his knee he's looking around for the towel to come in to save him) and so has brought Tibbs in, who's a good trainer but as Mickey pointed out is still part of the same circle, so I'm sure Bowers will still have some input.

I think it's a good decision.

mickey1975 wrote: ↑05 Feb 2021, 12:34 I don’t think they were yes men as such. Maybe overestimated DDD’s current standing in the division. You could clearly hear Bowers bollocking him, the only problem was, Bowers looked more surprised than Dan.

I think this is a good take.

The Joyce loss was a gamble that didn't pay off. Dubois, Bowers and W@arren got it wrong. It happens.

Bowers was doing a good job with Dubois, he just wasn't ready for a world class boxer like Joyce. Seems an unnecessary change IMO.

Going from impressing against Gorman to stepping up against Joyce was too big a leap. Even more so when bouncing bombs off of an opponent has no effect, that's a tough lesson to learn.

Off topic but just seen Joe Joyce is appearing live on Soccer AM today, why oh why does he keep putting himself in these situations?

handsofstone wrote: ↑06 Feb 2021, 06:43 Off topic but just seen Joe Joyce is appearing live on Soccer AM today, why oh why does he keep putting himself in these situations?

To get himself known by fans and to try and get more comfortable in front of a camera?

Casuals seem to like him. I was looking at some YouTube comments on the Dubois fight (where the casuals dwell) and he seems popular enough. They should have him on with his Mum, who seems a right character.

THEBUTCH wrote: ↑06 Feb 2021, 06:38 .

Bowers was doing a good job with Dubois, he just wasn't ready for a world class boxer like Joyce

Whether in the gym training or the corner during the fight, DD wasn’t given the technical or tactical information to react to JJ’s simply stepping off to DD’s left and jabbing, over and over and over again eating that jab from exactly the same angle, and all he got in the corner every round was a bollocking verging on bullying

To say the least I don’t think a particularly good job had been done. Simple footwork adjustment to make and either nobody ever told him or he didn’t or couldn’t do it on the hoof during the fight. JJ wasn’t exactly pulling Lomachenko level technical skill but you’d think he was, from the inability of DD to react to it.

It's one loss ! Joyce is a tough nights work for almost anyone in the world.

Maybe Bowers learnt from that fight too.

Apart from DDD landing a knockout right hand, I think whatever he'd have tried to do Joyce would have just cranked it up and overridden any change in tactics by Dubois and Bowers.

It was a good fight, but not even Joyce's most demanding contest.

THEBUTCH wrote: ↑06 Feb 2021, 07:52 Joyce would have just cranked it up and overridden any change in tactics by Dubois and Bowers.

Would he? Says who? Joyce showed no ability to land any punch other than the jab. His hands seemed so slow every other shot could be easily nullified, and was. Take the jab away and what would he have left but those slow power shots that weren’t landing?

Maybe Bowers learned from that fight? How longs he been in boxing? ‘When he moves to your left adjust your feet’ take a step back, pivot away, do anything but turn towards him and wander face-first into his jab like a feckin zombie!

Everyone says Joyce is criminally slow, but he has somehow managed to achieve all he has.

Cyclops wrote: ↑06 Feb 2021, 07:15

handsofstone wrote: ↑06 Feb 2021, 06:43 Off topic but just seen Joe Joyce is appearing live on Soccer AM today, why oh why does he keep putting himself in these situations?

To get himself known by fans and to try and get more comfortable in front of a camera?

Casuals seem to like him. I was looking at some YouTube comments on the Dubois fight (where the casuals dwell) and he seems popular enough. They should have him on with his Mum, who seems a right character.

Sky don’t often push non-Sky fighters on their TV shows. Wonder if they’re (Matchroom and Sky) courting Joe to move over. Joe’s really got FW/BT over a barrel.

seems like a fair move to me , if tibbs can get him boxing with speed and variety plus some movement then he will be a better fighter .

I felt bowers was a bit out of his depth in the JJ fight anyway .