Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois battle it out for the IBF World Heavyweight Title in just over a month’s time after both bouncing back from losses to Oleksandr Usyk.
The Ukrainian, following his four-belt cruiserweight success, dethroned ‘AJ’ for the unified titles and kept them in the rematch. His second defence was against another Brit in Dubois where he scored his first stoppage in the heavyweight ranks.
There were questions surrounding Dubois’ heart following the loss, answered emphatically with two hard-fought wins over Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic.
Joshua has been on a good run of form himself, beating Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou since his exhausting fights with Usyk.
Speaking to Mail Sport Boxing, Usyk – who went on to become undisputed champion with a win over Tyson Fury – said the man he snatched the unified titles from has improved mentally since then and backs him to beat Dubois, saying there was a gulf between them.
“He has improved a lot psychologically … Of course [he beats Daniel Dubois] … It’s like Olympic Champion and UK Champion. Anthony is a different level.”
Dubois, now the IBF Champion thanks to Usyk vacating, will hope to force a changing of the guard come September 21 whilst ‘AJ’ looks to prove he is still one of the top dogs on British shores after all these years.
Whoever wins will have a keen eye on the Usyk-Fury rematch come December and look to match up against the winner in the first half of 2025 to potentially crown a second undisputed heavyweight champion in the space of a year.
