As Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua make final preparations for their IBF world heavyweight title clash on Saturday, there will be speculation about how the outcome of this fight will affect the heavyweight division.
(Credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom Boxing)
Anthony Joshua is the bookmakers’ favorite to win this fight. If Joshua emerges victorious on Saturday, he will become a three-time world heavyweight champion and join Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield as the only boxers to have won the world title on three separate occasions. On the face of it, this would be a tremendous achievement for Joshua.
However, the background of this fight suggests otherwise. On April 15, Dubois won the vacant IBF interim heavyweight title after defeating top-ranked contender Filip Hrgović. Dubois became IBF champion on June 26 after Oleksandr Usyk vacated the title. This means that Dubois has become a world champion by default and not by beating the reigning IBF champion. Also, Dubois lost his world title fight against Oleksandr Usyk in August 2023.
If Joshua beats Dubois on Saturday, it may be hard to argue that Anthony Joshua would then be a three-time world heavyweight champion in any meaningful sense. Since AJ would have beaten a fighter who only won the IBF belt by default, Joshua’s claim to be a three-time world heavyweight champion had less legitimacy. Former world super-middleweight champion and pundit Carl Froch says it’s best when he argues that any Joshua win over Dubois would be less impressive, as AJ would have taken the IBF title from rightful champion Usyk – a fighter that Joshua lost.
In the event that AJ wins on Saturday, it’s arguable that the best he can hope for is that Tyson Fury beats Oleksandr Usyk in their rematch on December 21st. This would open up the prospect for another all-British showdown between Fury and Joshua next year to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. A Usyk win on December 21st wouldn’t be good news for AJ, considering he’s already lost twice to Usyk.
In light of the above, Daniel Dubois would have more to gain if he beats Joshua on Saturday. A win for Dubois would lend credence to his claim that he is now an elite fighter, and present him with lucrative world championship fight opportunities against Fury and/or Usyk.
Despite reportedly attracting a crowd of over 90,000 to England’s Wembley Stadium, the Dubois-Joshua fight pales in significance compared to the rematch between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia in December for the right to be called unified world heavyweight champion.
