Daniel Dubois (21-2) earned the IBF interim crown after beating the previously undefeated Filip Hrgovic in June. After Oleksandr Usyk handed over the title, a mega clash between two UK heavyweights was set up - Joshua vs. Dubois.
On September 21 at Wembley, Anthony Joshua (28-3) will be making his 13 appearance in a world title fight, hoping to cement his status as a heavyweight legend. Judging by the Joshua vs. Dubois odds, he's very likely to pull it off. But maybe Dubois can pull off an Andy Ruiz Jr. type of surprise? Read our preview to see if that's at all possible.
Daniel Dubois has suffered only two losses in his professional career. The first of those happened in 2020 when Joe Joyce beat him by a knockout. The second happened in 2023 against Oleksandr Usyk by the same method. However, that fight was filled with controversy.
During that bout, Dubois gave Usyk one of the toughest tests of his career. We even saw the Englishman drop Usyk on the ground in Round 5, but it was ruled a low blow by the ref, essentially saving the Ukrainian.
Since that loss, "Triple D" is 2-0, with TKO wins over Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic. The latter was for the vacant IBF interim heavyweight title. The title was elevated to full status after Usyk vacated the belt ahead of his fight with Tyson Fury, calling it a "present" for Dubois and Joshua.
Anthony Joshua, who is turning 35 in a few weeks' time, has significantly more experience than his 27-year-old opponent. This goes especially when it comes to high-profile fights such as the one for the IBF championship belt.
Plus, AJ has some fond memories of fighting at Wembley - he's undefeated in his four appearances at this venue. In fact, the greatest moment of his career happened at England's biggest stadium. It was 2017 when we saw him knock out Wladimir Klitschko to become the unified champion of the world.
Since then, we saw AJ fail - once against Andy Ruiz Jr, and twice against Oleksandr Usyk - and bounce back to the top again.
He's unbeaten in his last four fights, the most recent of which saw him KO former UFC champ Francis Ngannou in the second round. It was his third straight win inside the distance, proving that he's in incredible form.
All signs point to Anthony Joshua dominating the fight. He's the more complete competitor, whose vast experience with fighting at a top level may be pivotal in Saturday's fight. Sure, Dubois has the nuclear option in his fists, but AJ's footwork and tactical discipline should keep him protected from getting KO-ed. But what about the other way around?
Even though Dubois was impressive against Hrgovic, we do remember him doing bad defensively in the past. He definitely has some defensive vulnerabilities that Joshua can exploit, so we wouldn't be surprised if he managed to find a way to KO Dubois in one of the closing rounds of the bout.