Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois will fight for the Ibf heavyweight title in September

Written by: Sean Crose

With Oleksandr Usyk relinquishing his IBF heavyweight title this week, former IBF champion Anthony Joshua will fight Daniel Dubois (who is currently ranked as the number one contender) for the belt. The scheduled round of 12 between the two Englishmen will take place on September 21 at Wembley Stadium in London. This is a big fight, yes, but it’s an interesting fight, too. While most will (rightly) argue that Usyk is still the heavyweight king (he beat both Joshua and Dubois, after all), Joshua and Dubois are top-level fighters and fun to watch.

In addition, Dubois almost (some say definitely) took down Usyk last year in Poland. Although Usyk ended up winning their fight, there was no denying that Dubois, at least, managed to have his moments against the Ukrainian artist now. In addition, Usyk will also face Tyson Fury this December, a man neither Joshua nor Usyk have met in the ring. The main point? The winner of this match between Joshua and Usyk must have a bright future ahead of him. Although each man has lost a few fights, the days of boxers being put off by the fans due to defeats seem to be thankfully coming to an end…and it’s not about time, son.

Despite the small number of losses, the first thing that comes to mind for both Joshua and Dubois is that these men can beat. It’s difficult. With heavy thunder. Low blow or not, Dubois’ shot to Usyk’s torso last year clearly hurt the hotshot champion. That’s not surprising, however, as all twenty-one of Dubois’ victories have come by knockout or early stoppage. Since the Usyk fight, Dubois has stopped Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic respectively.

Joshua, of course, needs no introduction. At one point this man held three of the four major heavyweight titles. He stopped the likes of Wladimir Klitschko and Alexander Povetkin and was once on the brink of an undisputed heavyweight championship (the politics of boxing – and the American legal system – kept that serious fight with Fury from happening). Things were not going well for the England player after losing two fights with his belts to Usyk a few years ago, but he has come back strong, winning four in a row. His last fight, a two-round demolition of UFC legend Francis Ngannou, was a fighter’s nightmare.

Things reportedly got so heated between Joshua and Dubois on Wednesday, the two men had to be separated while filming pre-fight promos. Joshua responded to the incident by posting a picture of himself on social media on top of a tank looking hot. The image was accompanied by the following words:

“The truth is about to hit him.”