“Fighting Words” — Dubois vs. Joshua: Two Men, Five Losses, One Big Fight

There is no doubt that the best heavyweight in the world is Oleksandr Usyk. 

And therefore, there is no doubt that the most important fight in the heavyweight division is Usyk’s rematch with Tyson Fury on December 21 for three world titles, the lineal championship, and being recognized as the king of the big men.

That’s the fight that matters most. That does not mean that other fights, or fighters, pale in comparison.

Daniel Dubois-Anthony Joshua, being held on Saturday in London, is a big fight.

It is a big fight even though Dubois’ IBF title is second hand, cast aside by Usyk because he was contractually required to rematch Fury first.

It is a big fight even though Dubois has a loss to Usyk, and two defeats on his record overall. It is a big fight even though its combatants have combined for five losses overall. Joshua has the other three of those blemishes – two of them provided by Usyk.

And yet this is a big fight, not just because it is expected to bring in upwards of 90,000 people to Wembley Stadium, but also because this match remains meaningful.

Their fight will establish the winner as the third best heavyweight in the world and set them up to step in with at least one of the other two. And a significant part of what makes this so meaningful is those losses.

When people ask me why I love writing about boxing as opposed to baseball, my first love, I talk about the importance each fight has, how a boxing match is a chapter in history rather than just one tiny puzzle piece over the course of a season – a puzzle with a full picture that has not necessarily begun to take shape.

As with every other bout, Dubois-Joshua features the stories of the two men coming into the fight. It will provide storylines between the opening and final bells, a combination of action and drama, twists and turns. And it will lead to new chapters for the victor and the vanquished.

Dubois and Joshua have each been forced to rebuild – not once, but twice apiece.

Joshua’s initial rebuild came first. His chin and defense were questioned following his June 2019 loss to Andy Ruiz, when Joshua shockingly lost his three world titles as the result of two serious mistakes. First, Joshua thought he’d hurt Ruiz worse than was actually the case after flooring Ruiz in the third round of their bout. And then when Joshua went in to land what he hoped would be the finishing blows, he did so from too close and left himself too vulnerable for Ruiz’s counters. Ruiz had gone down once in the third. Joshua then went down twice.

Joshua had been hurt and dropped two years prior in his 2017 battle with Wladimir Klitschko, but Klitschko allowed Joshua to recover and come back for the win. There was no chance of that this time. Joshua was discombobulated, the damage lingering, and helping Ruiz put him away in the seventh round.

The fact that Joshua got the win six months later in the rematch, regaining his titles in the process, was largely due to Ruiz coming in massively overweight, making it easier for the shaky Joshua to box cautiously from a distance, reminiscent of what Klitschko had done after his own chin had been shattered long ago.

Klitschko ultimately learned how to emphasize his strengths and protect his weaknesses, leading to a lengthy reign atop the heavyweight division. Joshua sought to rebuild, and he was able to score a knockout win over Kubrat Pulev. But then came a defense against Usyk in September 2021.

The smaller Usyk was the better boxer, utilizing the kind of feints and footwork – the tricks and tactics that Joshua had not seen enough of and did not know how to deal with. By the end, Usyk had Joshua reeling in the final round.

That fight resulted in a unanimous decision for Usyk. Their rematch in August 2022 concluded with Usyk repeating, retaining his titles via majority decision. Joshua seized a microphone afterwards and set forth on a monologue that left viewers wondering if the former two-time heavyweight titleholder hadn’t just lost, but had lost it as well – unable to deal in the moment with the reality of what had happened in this fight and what that meant for his future.

In the two years since, however, Joshua has regained confidence, admittedly against a lower tier of opponents – scoring a decision over Jermaine Franklin and knockouts of Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin and the moonlighting mixed martial artist Francis Ngannou.

Is his confidence a facade? Is this renewed Anthony Joshua a mirage? His first truly solid test will show.

That test is Dubois. It was Joshua’s chin and defense that were previously, and reasonably, in question. And it was Dubois’ heart that was once criticized. That criticism was highly unfair.

Dubois took a knee and took the 10 count in the 10th round of his November 2020 fight with Joe Joyce. He was ahead on two of the three judges’ scorecards. But he’d suffered a bad injury — a fractured eye socket — and made a tough but strategic choice to protect his health and his future.

Many a fighter’s heart has been criticized over the years. And the best retort remains the example of the beloved warrior Israel Vazquez calling it a night in his first war with Rafael Marquez due to a broken nose, knowing that trying to win against his opponent was difficult enough while healthy, but downright dangerous while damaged.

No matter the reason for the loss, there was still that mark on Dubois’ record. So he worked on his mistakes in the gym and then tested himself against lesser foes, picking up quick wins over Bogdan Dinu, Joe Cusumano and Trevor Bryan.

Then came a battle in December 2022 with Kevin Lerena, a smaller man who was visiting heavyweight from the cruiserweight division, and who perhaps gave Dubois more trouble than had been expected — but exactly the kind of trouble that was needed.

Lerena scored three knockdowns in the first round. In reality, Dubois had suffered a leg injury and was having difficulty literally standing up to Lerena’s power shots. But this time, Dubois recognized that this was an injury that he could try to work through, especially given what a second stoppage loss would’ve meant. Dubois won by third-round technical knockout.

Next up: a title shot.

Dubois challenged Usyk in August 2023, losing by ninth-round knockout, but, in the eyes of some, gaining a moral victory. That’s because of what happened in the fifth round. Dubois threw a punch that, depending on your perspective, either was on the beltline or veered low. The referee ruled that it was a low blow. Usyk went to the canvas. Some people wrongly argue that Dubois was deprived of a knockout given the time Usyk spent off his feet. But if the referee had ruled it to be a legal blow, it’s wholly plausible that Usyk would’ve risen much sooner instead of taking some of the allotted time to recover.

Even with the moral victory, Dubois couldn’t afford another loss in any of his subsequent matches. While the most recent defeats for both Dubois and Joshua had come against Usyk — who had shown himself to be one of the two best heavyweights in the world and now is conclusively the best — losses against other, lower-ranked opponents would potentially send them packing.

So it was a big deal when Dubois defeated Jarrell Miller, stopping him in the final seconds of their December 2023 bout. And it was a big deal when Dubois picked up another technical knockout when a cut Filip Hrgovic was ruled unable to continue in the eighth round of their fight this June.

Both Miller and Hrgovic were previously unbeaten. Losing to fellow contenders would have pushed Dubois toward the fringe, in danger of being relegated to a measuring stick with a marketable name. Instead, the win over Hrgovic made Dubois one of the foremost contenders, and it earned him the interim IBF title, upgraded with Usyk taking on Fury again.

Joshua, meanwhile, is proof that this sport can sometimes be the way we boxing fans want it to be – with fighters taking dangerous fights even if it means they can take a loss, and with defeated fighters not being deflated.

We’ve seen too many boxers — or at least their managers and promoters — protect the zero on their records out of a concern that a loss would effectively end their ability to earn. But the fact is that Joshua has remained a superstar in the United Kingdom. 

Even the brightest of stars will eventually fade, though. Joshua wants to shine for as long as he can. He’ll need to outshine Dubois on Saturday. Dubois, meanwhile, wants that torch to be passed. He’ll need to snuff Joshua’s flame for that to happen.

Usyk-Fury is still the brightest star on the horizon. But Dubois-Joshua is about to light up the night.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2 and @UnitedBoxingPod. He is the co-host of the United Boxing Podcast. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.