Unforgiving fans branded Daniel Dubois a quitter, perhaps the most damaging description a boxer can be tasked to shake.
Roberto Duran, for all of the legendary Panamanian’s accomplishments in the ring, is often ostracized for his infamous “no mas” moment during the eighth round of his rematch with Ray Leonard in November 1980. Dubois thus understands certain critics will never overlook the worst night of his career, when the hyped heavyweight went to one knee early in the 10th round in November 2020 and decided the severe swelling surrounding his left eye was too much to overcome, even in a fight he was winning on two scorecards.
London’s Dubois was a 3-to-1 favorite to defeat Joe Joyce in a battle of unbeaten London natives that took place behind closed doors during the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Joyce won a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The 6-foot-6, 260-pound “Juggernaut” possessed power, a granite chin and a crowd-pleasing style that made him must-see TV.
Joyce was extremely easy to hit, though, and appeared perfect for the dangerous Dubois, who was considered the heir apparent to Anthony Joshua’s throne as British boxing’s next big thing. Dubois drilled Joyce with numerous right hands that at times backed up the usually fearless offensive force, but Joyce’s jab eventually made it impossible for Dubois to see out of his left eye. The last jab Joyce landed forced a discouraged Dubois to take a knee.
He didn’t answer referee Ian John-Lewis’ count and lost by knockout in London. That 10-second decision left Dubois, then only 23, to answer countless questions about his mental makeup, and whether he had the fortitude to fight through the inevitable brutality heavyweights have to endure.
Dark days ensued as Dubois dealt with a confidence crisis, the type of insecurity that can ruin careers.
Two former cruiserweights dropped Dubois a combined five times and one of them knocked him out once he resumed his career in 2021 after that Joyce loss. Yet there Dubois stood Thursday at Guildhall in London, two days away from the epic event rabid British boxing fans anticipated before Joyce derailed him.
The mild-mannered Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) took a peculiar path toward Saturday’s gigantic stage — a heavyweight title fight against Anthony Joshua at a sold-out Wembley Stadium. A record capacity crowd of 96,000 is expected to pack the iconic London venue where Joshua’s career-defining brawl with Wladimir Klitschko took place in April 2017.
Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) — who arose from a sixth-round knockdown and floored Klitschko three times on his way to an 11th-round knockout — has headlined three cards at Wembley Stadium, another at nearby Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, and two shows at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Dubois, 27, partakes in his first stadium main event in the UK.
“I’ve been preparing for this for months, weeks,” Dubois said Thursday. “And, you know, it’s been spoken about since the start of my career as a pro. So here we are now. I’m ready for it.”
Dubois’ readiness remains in question, despite the fact that he officially enters the ring as the defending IBF champ.
The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Dubois defeated Filip Hrgovic (17-1, 14 KOs) and Jarrell Miller (26-1-2, 22 KOs) by technical knockouts in back-to-back bouts since his ninth-round knockout loss to unbeaten Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk a year ago in Wroclaw, Poland.
Dubois stopped Hrgovic in the eighth round due to cuts over both eyes of the Croatian contender June 1 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Brooklyn’s Miller was also unbeaten when Dubois defeated him late in the 10th round on Dec. 23, also in Riyadh.
Those victories rejuvenated Dubois’ career, though his performance versus Usyk indicated Dubois isn’t capable of beating the very best heavyweights in boxing — a small group that includes Joshua. Dubois sent Usyk to the canvas with a body shot during the fifth round of their August 2023 bout, but referee Luis Pabon declared the borderline blow a foul and allowed Usyk almost four minutes to recover.
A mentally and physically fatigued Dubois folded later in their fight. Usyk’s combination of punches sent him to the canvas once late in the eighth round, and a jab floored Dubois again early in the ninth round, prompting Pabon to halt the action.
Dubois nonetheless can enhance his chances to secure an Usyk rematch if he upsets Joshua, especially if he knocks Joshua out. Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) faces former WBC champ Tyson Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) in their rematch Dec. 21 in Riyadh to retain his WBA, WBC, WBO and IBO belts.
The 6-foot-6, 250-pound Joshua, whom BetMGM listed as a 3.5-to-1 favorite Thursday, has built momentum for his own third fight with Usyk by viciously knocking out Finland’s Robert Helenius, dominating Swedish southpaw Otto Wallin on his way to a fifth-round stoppage, and obliterating former UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou in his past three fights. Joshua, 34, lost two 12-round decisions to Usyk, but is typically considered championship material much more than Dubois, who won a vacant interim IBF belt by beating Hrgovic and was later elevated to the status of full champion.
Dubois didn’t dispute Thursday that he must prove himself against Joshua, who’s attempting to become a three-time champion in their pay-per-view main event. He was more measured during their final news conference than at the beginning of fight week, when Dubois audaciously told Sky Sports he would make Joshua “quit,” of all things.
“The world title, I need to retain it and hold on to it,” Dubois said. “So, yes, it’s a great thing to have, but I need to legitimize myself by winning this fight. So I’m ready to go to war.”
Facing Joshua before a crowd of almost 100,000 is a win in and of itself for Dubois less than four years after his devastating defeat to Joyce, whose career came apart over the past 18 months. The soft-spoken power puncher has undoubtedly disproved skeptics who dismissed him as a quitter for how he lost that fight.
But Dubois still needs to knock off a favored former champion Saturday night to convince them he is legitimate championship material worthy of either Usyk or Fury.
