Anthony Joshua has insisted that he is “willing to die” against Daniel Dubois on Saturday, as the Britons clash at Wembley Stadium.
Joshua, 34, will challenge Dubois for the IBF heavyweight title, after Dubois, 27, was elevated from interim champion when Oleksandr Usyk vacated the official belt.
For Joshua, the main-event contest represents a chance to become a three-time world champion, and “AJ” is adamant that he will leave everything in the ring to achieve that goal.
“This is the thing with fighting: it takes more than being strong to be a champion and a good fighter,” Joshua told reporters on Monday (16 September). “It’s good, but I truly believe from what I’ve read and studied – and from what great people who have come before me have said – it takes more than being a physical specimen to be a fighter.
“It’s a good attribute, but when you come across someone who’s willing to take that from you, and you’re giving them your best shot and they’re taking it, that’s when you figure out what it takes to be a champion. I’ve been there, I’ve been to the well. [Dubois] is fighting someone that’s willing to die in there, that wants to give everything to be victorious.”
Still, the younger fighter owes Joshua zero respect, according to the former two-time champion.
“Na, the only thing he owes me is a punch, and that’s it!” Joshua laughed. “I don’t want anything else from him. I don’t want respect; I have to earn respect, if I want it, and that’s what I’m gonna do on Saturday night. Everything I’ve done in the past, we have to draw a line under it, because I can’t take that with me on Saturday night.”
Dubois won the interim IBF title by stopping Filip Hrgovic in June, six months after beating Jarrell Miller in the final seconds of their fight.
Those results marked a positive response from Dubois after his TKO loss to Usyk last August. The Ukrainian climbed off the canvas after a controversial low blow from Dubois – a shot that should have been declared legal, according to the Briton – to stop “Dynamite” in round nine. Usyk then outpointed Tyson Fury in May to become undisputed champion.
Meanwhile, Joshua suffered back-to-back points defeats by Usyk in 2021 and 2022, but he has since won four fights in a row. AJ beat Jermaine Franklin on points in April 2023, before stopping Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou in his next three fights.
Those wins have brought Joshua back into the title picture, as he returns to Wembley Stadium – where he stopped Wladimir Klitschko in 2017 and Alexander Povetkin in 2018.
But Joshua will try to fight his opponent, not the occasion, on Saturday. Discussing the prospect of becoming a three-time champion, Joshua said: “You know what’s crazy? I always say: Sunday morning, you wake up, and your bills still come out of your account. It’s mad, init? You’ve got to do your washing.
“Yeah!” he insisted with a laugh. “When you’re in training camp, like when I was in Saudi in the Airbnb, [someone] was taking a video because I was just doing my ironing after the Ngannou fight. The only difference is that it hurts, losing. It takes a few weeks, and time’s the best healer.
“When you win, you’re on a high. To get back balanced [after losing], it takes a bit of time. After the Ngannou fight, everything was good, we went to the Formula One – you know, you’re riding that wave. Hopefully we do that on Saturday.”
