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On Saturday, Daniel Dubois puts the IBF heavyweight championship on the line against two-time former unified champion Anthony Joshua. With the rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury for the unified title now just months away, the winner of Dubois vs. Joshua is in a powerful position in boxing’s glamour division.
Usyk became undisputed champion with his initial win over Fury but was stripped of the IBF because the rematch would prevent him from handling his obligation to face his mandatory challenger. When Usyk was stripped, which Usyk called a “gift” to Joshua and Dubois, Dubois was elevated to full champion status.
Since losing back-to-back fights to Usyk, Joshua has rattled off four consecutive victories. Most recently, Joshua delivered a blistering Knockout of the Year contender against former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, who was coming off a razor-thing split decision loss to Fury.
Dubois vs. Joshua is a big fight for the division’s present and future but it’s important to both individuals in specific ways. Let’s take a look at how the outcome of the fight can impact both men.
What this fight means for Dubois
But for fleeting moments, the path to heavyweight titles in this era has always gone through Fury and Joshua — and now Usyk — so it seems only right that Joshua will be the man standing across from Dubois with IBF gold on the line. Dubois already failed to take down Usyk in 2023. He believed he scored a clean knockdown of Usyk in the fight, but the referee intervened and declared it a low blow. Usyk would stop Dubois in the Round 9, but Dubois believes he has “unfinished business” with Usyk.
A loss to Joshua would remove any chance Dubois has of righting what he believes to be a wrong against Usyk. The Ukrainian is close to retirement but it’s uncertain what happens after he rematches Fury. With a win, he could look to become undisputed a second time at heavyweight, or he could follow through on the plan he previously floated to return to cruiserweight to try to become undisputed a second time at that weight. If Dubois beats Joshua and retains the IBF title, he has some chance at the Usyk rematch.
Dubois falls into a strange place with a loss. At only 27 years old, he’s far from the end of his boxing career, which is to his advantage. There is still a lot of time for Dubois to become world champion again before his career ends but if he loses, he might be driving around the block until Usyk, Fury and Joshua all hang up their gloves and a spot opens up. From a legacy standpoint, that wouldn’t reflect well on Dubois’ career.
Dubois is in a fortunate position because boxing politics meant the four world titles couldn’t stay together long and the IBF title was put back in the wind, allowing for Dubois to be elevated from interim to full champion. But Dubois’ championship is something of a paper title and, no disrespect to Filip Hrgovic, his reign won’t feel legitimate until he defeats someone seen as a legitimate world champion-level opponent. In these ways, it might be now or never for Dubois’ opportunity to build a legacy as one of the best heavyweight fighters of an exciting heavyweight era.
What this fight means for Joshua
For both men, being in position to face the winner of Usyk vs. Fury II is as big of a prize as the IBF title, which can only be seen as something of a secondary title in the division after it was stripped from Usyk. But Joshua has history with both men that make a potential showdown mean more than just an undisputed championship fight.
A fight between Joshua and Fury has been discussed for years and even this late in their respective careers would be the biggest fight in the history of British boxing. If you were to add the stakes of the undisputed heavyweight championship being on the line, it becomes one of the biggest fights of all time. Of course, if both Fury and Joshua were to lose their upcoming fights, the best option could be to make the fight happen anyway. It would still be a big fight, even if not as big as it could have been at any point in the past decade.
There’s no path to a third fight with Usyk for Joshua short of beating Dubois and enticing Usyk to go for undisputed status at heavyweight a second time. Usyk may be completely uninterested given he has already taken Joshua down twice.
What the Dubois fight may represent more than anything is a chance for Joshua to continue building his legacy. A win would make him a three-time world champion and would be another step in minimizing blemishes like the historic 2019 upset at the hands of Andy Ruiz Jr. or the myriad disappointing performances in victory that pepper Joshua’s career.
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