Daniel Dubois v Anthony Joshua: Boxing World Turns Its Focus To London
The United Kingdom has played host to some of the most iconic fights in boxing history, and on Saturday night, it will do so again when Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua climb through the ropes.
Dubois (21-2-0 20 KO) will make the first defense of his IBF heavyweight world title against two-time unified champion Joshua (28-3-0 25 KO) in the headline bout at Wembley Stadium in London.
It will be the biggest fight night on British soil since Joshua took down Wladimir Klitschko in an all-time classic inside the same famous soccer arena more than seven years ago. Will it deliver the same fireworks and drama? AJ will hope for a simpler and more uneventful night having been forced to dig into the depths of his soul to defeat the Ukrainian great.
The crowd size will be around the same – estimated to be at a capacity 94,000 – with millions more watching on TV and streaming services around the world.
For British boxing fans, they will be delighted to see such an enormous fight taking place on their shores once again. While Saudi Arabia has deservedly received plenty of praise for reviving the heavyweight division in recent years, it has come at the expense of major world title bouts taking place in traditional boxing heartlands like London, New York, and Las Vegas.
Dubois Surges To World Title
That said, the platform and opportunities provided by Saudi Arabia and Turki Alalshikh have allowed both Dubois and Joshua to put themselves in positions for this bout to go ahead.
Dubois has surged to the top of the division thanks to his last two fights in Riyadh. Following a defeat in Poland to unified champion Oleksandr Usyk in August 2023, ‘Dynamite’ began his “resurrection” with a gutsy final-round knockout of the dangerous Jarrell Miller in the Saudi capital last December. He returned to the Kingdom Arena six months later to deliver the best performance of his career to date – an eighth-round stoppage of unbeaten IBF interim title holder Filip Hrgovic.
Later that month, Dubois was elevated from interim to full world champion after Usyk vacated the belt due to his contractually obligated rematch with Tyson Fury, whom the Ukrainian defeated on a split decision in May to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era.
Joshua has been similarly aided by the involvement of Saudi Arabia, albeit with arguably higher stakes. One of the lowest points of AJ’s career occurred in the kingdom when, in August 2022 in Jeddah, he fell to a second straight defeat to Usyk in his attempt to reclaim the WBA, WBO, and IBF belts. He did not take the loss well, throwing one of the belts out of the ring and launching a bizarre tirade on the mic.
Joshua On The Brink Of History
After beginning his latest comeback with a pair of wins in London over Jermaine Franklin Jr and Robert Helenius, Joshua returned to Saudi Arabia last December to dominate Otto Wallin, before crushing MMA star Francis Ngannou inside two rounds in March.
Joshua is now on the precipice of being just the fifth fighter in history to become a three-time heavyweight world champion, emulating all-time greats Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, and Vitaly Klitschko.
Saudi Arabia and Alalshikh remain involved in Saturday’s event, which will be fought under the Riyadh Season banner, marking the first time a major Riyadh Season show will take place in London. It should therefore be an event with many of the positives of an Alalshikh card – namely lucrative pay for the fighters and a stacked undercard – while removing most of the negatives had it taken place in Riyadh, chief among them a lack of atmosphere and prohibitive accessibility for international fans.
Joshua remains the favorite to secure the victory on Saturday. The 34-year-old’s greater experience of huge occasions combined with his power, athleticism, and ever-improving skillset make him a fearsome challenger.
Dubois v AJ Worthy Of Biggest Stage
Dubois, however, will be full of belief that this is his moment – and rightly so. The 26-year-old Londoner has fought, and beaten, stronger opponents in the past 12 months and is evidently improving with each passing fight.
It’s a main event worthy of the grand stage it’s being afforded, and there’s an exciting undercard to warm up the fans ahead of the headline bout. The co-main event will see rising middleweight star Hamzah Sheeraz challenge for the European title against current holder Tyler Denny.
Sheeraz (20-0-0 16 KO) is widely regarded as a future world champion, and he will aim to deliver in front of his biggest audience yet. But in Denny (19-2-3 1 KO), he faces a revitalized fighter hoping to continue his run of upset wins.
Before then, Anthony Cacace puts his IBF super-featherweight world title on the line against former champion Josh Warrington, and Joshua Buatsi and Willy Hutchinson engage in a light-heavyweight bout that will settle a simmering tension between the pair. Kicking off the main card will be a lightweight bout featuring Mark Chamberlain – one of Alalshikh’s favorite fighters – and Josh Padley.
Former middleweight world champion Liam Smith and the stylish Josh Kelly were also scheduled to fight, but Smith has withdrawn due to a “health setback” and has been replaced by Ishmael Davis.
It’s all set up to be an epic night of boxing in one of the sport’s historic capitals.
