Anthony Joshua has chance at greatness, but must defeat ‘incredibly dangerous’ Dubois to become three-time world champion

Back fighting at Wembley for the first time since 2020, Anthony Joshua has the chance tonight to put himself into a small, elite group of heavyweights.

To be a three-time heavyweight champion of the world is a rare thing – only five men have done it.

Publicly Joshua said it is not his priority: “It would be phenomenal, but greatness is in character as well.

“If you’re a good person, you’re a great person, you don’t need a title.”

But his promoter Eddie Hearn said he understands what the win would mean.

“I think this is the first time I’ve heard him allude a little bit to the legacy part because for him it’s all about the performance,” he told Sky News.

“But he knows what’s on the line on Saturday. It’s a very small group – three-times heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis – there aren’t many.

“I think he’d realise the magnitude of what this would mean and how it would position him for a shot at the Fury vs Usyk 2 winner.”

There’s no doubt Joshua wants the win desperately, his fifth in a row since a double loss to Oleksandr Usyk. Lose tonight and he’s back down the pecking order with another rebuild ahead of him at the age of 36.

He said it’s a “must-win fight – I’m going to do my best – what will be will be”.

“I want to win (this) a lot – a lot – I work hard, I work really hard, I kept my head down and what will be will be now and I’ll leave it to the big man upstairs,” Joshua said.

But Hearn describes a possible defeat as a catastrophe – and says it is a “what if” question that has been asked a lot.

“Since the Andy Ruiz loss people have asked that question,” he tells Sky News, “but [Joshua’s] enjoying boxing more than ever in my opinion”.

“He looks better than ever, he’s more of a complete fighter than ever, but of course when you lose it’s catastrophic.

“The difference here between winning and losing is a very wide margin – if you win, you issue yourself as almost king of the sport.

“If you lose, you’ve lost to Daniel Dubois, the younger fighter, it’s a bigger climb back up to the top. We must win on Saturday night.”

Daniel Dubois, his younger opponent by nine years, stands in the way and he has it all to prove.

The holder of the IBF belt, he was awarded that world title in June as a result of winning an eliminator bout against Filip Hrgovic, and because Usyk wasn’t in a position to defend it due to his upcoming rematch with Tyson Fury.

He’s young, he’s hungry, he’s on a roll.

“It’s all meant to be. I’m in the right place at the right time, I just need to stay in my bubble,” he said.

“I need to legitimise it, win and show the world that I’m the man.”

Hearn recognises the danger of Dubois, who famously rocked AJ during a sparring session when he was younger.

“He’s incredibly dangerous,” he said. “People keep asking me if [Dubois will] be able to control his emotions and the madness of 96,000, and I think the answer is no and that makes him more dangerous.

“Because whatever the game plan is, I think he is going to come out like a train, come out wild and that makes him more dangerous – but he can also walk on to something big from Anthony Joshua early in the fight.

“I cannot imagine a world where this fight goes 12 rounds. These are two very fast very big punching heavyweights they’re dangerous every second of this fight.”

Frank Warren, the veteran promoter of Dubois, thinks it’s time for his man to show what he’s made of and it could be a “changing of the guard” in the heavyweight scene.

Read more:
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Usyk ‘gifts’ IBF title away

“I’ve got a lot of faith in him, he’s on a really good roll at the moment but so is AJ. I feel this could be his moment – he’s a big, big puncher,” Warren said.

“It’s part of the business, this what he has to do – step up and show what he’s all about. It comes with the territory: you’ve either got it or you ain’t got it.

“When he gets in that ring on Saturday, you’ve got blinkers on. Forget about the crowd, forget about everybody and look what’s in front of you.”

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For Hearn, the occasion – a packed Wembley, a scenario Joshua has been comfortable with many times – could be the deciding factor. He has no doubts about the way his fighter will handle it.

“The way he carries himself, he’s been here so many times before,” he said.

“When you walk out on Saturday in front of 96,000 to have a fight with another 6ft 5 gentleman in front of the world, you better hold yourself together.

“I know AJ won’t have a problem holding himself together but it’s still a dangerous, dangerous task.”