2 weeks Ago By Matt Majendie
The rebuild from the back-to-back defeats by Oleksandr Usyk has been a slow and agonising approach for Anthony Joshua . No wonder, the 34-year-old talked about having "been through a lot of pain" in the two years since the second defeat by Usyk. His stock is at its highest since that loss in Jeddah, helped predominantly by a second-round knockout in March of Francis Ngannou, an opponent who made Tyson Fury look ordinary in the pair's meeting last October.
Saturday night against Daniel Dubois is the latest test in what seems like Joshua's ongoing rehabilitation in the ring, arguably his toughest challenge since his dethroning as heavyweight world champion by Usyk. In front of 96,000 at Wembley there is an opportunity to become heavyweight world champion for a third time, although there is something of a falsehood behind the IBF belt that Dubois was effectively gifted in the fight build-up. Usyk was the previous recipient after unifying the heavyweight belts against Fury but such are the vagaries of boxing's various governing bodies that the Ukrainian was stripped of that IBF title after his understandable decision to forego Dubois for a second time for the Fury repeat.
Joshua, having seemingly now settled on Ben Davison as his trainer after tinkering following his split with Rob McCracken, said: "The last 10 months I feel like I've really honed my skills to be the very best version of me. "I've always had the belief in myself and my ability in the ring, and I've worked hard to get back here. Plus, there is the fact going into the fight that I don't like losing.
I don't ever want to experience that again." There is previous between the two, albeit dating back to sparring in 2016 when Dubois hit Joshua with a left hook. The impact of that punch has differing versions, some suggesting it had rocked Joshua to the brink of a knock-out.
His take is different. "Dubois hit me with a left hook," recalled Joshua. "It was a bit like, 'cor, wow', but that was it.
For me, it's irrelevant but we will see after the 12th round this weekend." Joshua has exuded a confidence this week that has not always been apparent in the fight build-up of recent times. This contest makes an interesting match-up between two fighters with potentially explosive punching power both of whom have had to rebuild their careers following defeats.
Dubois said: "I'm ready to fight and I'm in a good place. I'm just going through the motions and building up my energy for Saturday night. "I know I need to go to another level and be my very best.
I can't wait for the challenge of Saturday. I'm just ready to fight now.".
