Daniel Dubois has praised Anthony Joshua for sparring with him early in his professional career ahead of his fight this Friday with Razvan Cojanu.Speaking to BT Sport, Dubois was asked whether there was truth in the stories about him dropping fellow British heavyweight Joshua during their session together.“It was good sparring,” Dubois said, failing to specify whether he actually did knock down Joshua when they shared the ring.He was, however, full of compliments for the heavyweight champion, claiming that sparring with Joshua helped propel him into professional boxing.“It sort of launched me off into the professional games after sharing a ring with him,” Dubois said. “It was a big help and it was a good experience.”

Since his first professional bout in April 2017, Dubois has a record of 9-0-0, winning by knockout in eight of those nine fights.

His only points victory came in his last fight against Kevin Johnson, an experienced fighter who has been in the ring with Vitali Klitschko, Tyson Fury and Joshua.

However, there is no doubt this weekend presents Dubois’ toughest test yet. He fights Cojanu, a much younger, fitter fighter than Johnson, and somebody who has also fought the likes of Joseph Parker and Luis Ortiz.

Furthermore, Dubois has his eyes set on Nathan Gorman, who was taken the distance by Cojanu. Therefore if Dubois was able to achieve the knockout on Friday, it will stand him in good stead ahead of a proposed fight with Gorman.

Dubois features on a good looking card this Friday night at the Royal Albert Hall filled with young, talented British fighters.

Unbeaten and highly rated Anthony Yarde is also fighting Travis Reeves, as he defends his WBO intercontinental light-heavyweight title for the fifth time, while Liam Williams fights Joe Mullender for the British middleweight title, and Johnny Garton faces Chris Jenkins in a bout for the British welterweight title.