Daniel Dubois vows to be ‘king slayer’ against Anthony Joshua

Daniel Dubois has vowed to become a “king slayer” as he prepares to face Anthony Joshua in an all-British IBF heavyweight title fight on Sept. 21 at Wembley Stadium.

The bout was confirmed at a news conference in London on Wednesday and will be Joshua’s first at Wembley since Sept 2018.

Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) will bid to become a three-time world champion versus Dubois, who is chasing his first title.

Dubois, 26, became the mandatory challenger for the IBF crown with his win over Filip Hrgović in June, and he said he is ready to take the next major step in his career. But with Oleksandr Usyk relinquishing the belt on Tuesday, Dubois was elevated to full champion on Wednesday by the IBF.

“That’s just where I’m aiming for, to fight the best and be the best. AJ’s been the king for a long time and on the night, I need to become a king slayer and that’s my goal, that’s the mission at hand,” Dubois said during the news conference. “I’m learning more about myself as a fighter, as a person, coming out of the darkness and into the light, improving all round as a fighter and as an athlete. I’m up for this and ready to go.”

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Joshua was typically calm while asked questions, but insisted he hasn’t overlooked Dubois with fights versus Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury potentially in the offering for the winner.

“Correct, next man up. Congratulations to Daniel for winning his last fight. I’ve been having Dubois on my mind for a while and he’ll be on my mind for the next 12 weeks until I get my hand raised,” Joshua said. “The goal is just getting through a successful training camp, performing on the night and the shiny stuff comes at a later date.”

In a video posted to social media on Tuesday, undisputed world champion Usyk said he would vacate his IBF crown as a “present” to Joshua and Dubois.

Usyk became the first undisputed heavyweight champion in the four-belt era in May when he beat Tyson Fury in Riyadh.

 It means all four belts won’t be on the line again when Usyk and Fury meet for the rematch on Dec. 21 in Riyadh.

The first of his two defeats to Usyk saw Joshua lose his belts for a second time. He has made his way back to a shot at the title with wins over Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou.

Dubois impressed in his victory over Hrgović, and he also earned a solid win over Jarrell Miller in December after he was beaten by Usyk in August 2023.

Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren promised a British classic and predicted the fight will not go the distance.

“It doesn’t get any better than this, two Brits in there fighting for the IBF title,” Warren said.

“Two probably of the biggest punchers in the heavyweight division and as we all know, when you got two quality British fighters fighting each other for a prestigious title, you always get a classic fight.

“It won’t go the distance, somebody’s going to go. One thing’s for sure: it’s going to be exciting.”

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