Anthony Joshua can move out of Tyson Fury’s shadow with dominant win

After a difficult few years with three losses in his most recent nine fights, the British boxer’s star could be on the rise again

It is perilous for Anthony Joshua every time he steps between the ropes, physically of course against his heavyweight rivals, but the danger to his reputation lurks everywhere, sly and unseen.
Joshua has the opportunity to become the International Boxing Federation champion by defeating Daniel Dubois on Wembley Stadium’s grand stage on Saturday night, and a three-time heavyweight champion of the world, joining the greats like Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield.
Yet perhaps that is not even the greatest prize on offer. Filling the void left by Tyson Fury’s defeat by Oleksandr Usyk may be of even greater significance psychologically. To reclaim the crown of ‘Britain’s best’ after four years of being in Fury’s shadow, as the “Gypsy King” rose and made an extraordinary return from his personal abyss, had his trilogy of thrillers against Deontay Wilder, followed by a Netflix series, best-selling books, and then in the last year his investiture as the favoured heavyweight fighter of Saudi Arabian minister Turki Alalshikh, and as the catalyst of change around the blue riband division.
Yet Fury’s poor performance against former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou 11 months ago, and his defeat by Usyk for the undisputed crown four months ago have left a chasm, which Joshua could bridge.
The fighter could regain the aura he held between 2016 and 2019, when he was elevated to one of the biggest stars in British sport, with global acclaim in boxing. Joshua, along with his promoter Eddie Hearn, created a juggernaut, and arguably transformed the division into a fashionable place, energising the landscape, and bringing many new fans to the sport. Joshua was cool, and the hipsters and the sponsors came flocking.
“The Joshua Effect” powered pay-per-view sales, thanks to the fighter’s air of invincibility, his physique, charm and Hearn’s conductor’s baton. The pair accrued huge wealth. In that period Joshua set up his own companies, moreover, that will eventually bring him generational wealth.
The height of that power came at Wembley Stadium in late April 2017 – always a happy hunting ground for the Watford man mountain – when the fight with former long-reigning world champion Wladimir Klitschko drew huge attention, massive sales, and was arguably Joshua’s greatest moment in the ring thus far.
He was 27 (the same age as Dubois will be on Saturday night) and did not disappoint in a thrilling contest against Klitschko that was even discussed on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme as well as every sports outlet, such was the interest. It was emblematic of modern Britain, it was a lasting legacy for our super heavyweight champion gold medallist from the London 2012 Olympic Games.
It mattered not, almost airbrushed out, that Fury, tucked away and trying to get mind and body right, had defeated Klitschko, outboxing him in Dusseldorf in the winter of 2015. No. The Wembley duel was a thriller. It had drama, and showed Joshua at his very best. Heart, chin, stamina, the desire of a world champion. Both men were knocked down, and Joshua regained his feet to stop Klitschko in the 11th round. Joshua the megastar was born.
Yet as Fury rose, Joshua had a calamitous night on his United States debut, when he was knocked out by a late replacement in Andy Ruiz Jnr, at Madison Square Garden. It did not help that Ruiz looked like he had been on a burger-fest rather than a training camp. It was a huge fall for Joshua, in spite of regaining his three world title belts from Ruiz in his next fight, in Saudi Arabia, as the interest there in boxing was beginning.
Joshua, resurgent of late, knows that his barometer is rising again. There are comparisons being made with what he did against Ngannou – and what Fury did not. Fury was knocked down; Joshua knocked Ngannou into next week with a highlight-reel right hand.
This is the time now for Joshua, composed and menacing this week, suitably irked by Dubois’s youthful arrogance. Joshua may have lost twice to Usyk, but he relished a third contest. He is also with the right trainer in Ben Davison, who is a man with a similar mindset; a plotter, planner, student of the enemy.
Together they have found great strength. Davison told me on Thursday that Joshua is “ready”. In fairness, he looks ready and has all the tools and experience to defeat Dubois. Should he do so, and convincingly, Joshua could fold those huge muscular arms, sit on a throne of his own making, and leave all the pressure on Fury to defeat Usyk on Dec 21 in Riyadh. The truth is, as huge an event as Joshua-Fury would be, either man as the winner in Saudi has meaning for Joshua’s next move. Win on Saturday, and the throne, at least here in Britain, is his for now.