Anthony Joshua eyes third world title but legacy rests on undisputed bout against Fury or Usyk

Englishman must defeat compatriot Daniel Dubois at Riyadh Season's London extravaganza if he is to set up clash for all the marbles in 2025

British boxer Anthony Joshua pictured during fight week ahead of his bout against Daniel Dubois. PA

It says a lot about where Anthony Joshua is in his career that questions about Saturday’s opponent Daniel Dubois usually come after those about two men who won’t be in the ring at Wembley.

For the best part of a decade now Joshua has been among an elite group at the top of the heavyweight division, so perhaps it’s only natural he should be asked so frequently about Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury, who will meet again later this year for three versions of the heavyweight title.

The other, the IBF’s, will be on the line this weekend in one of the most pivotal fights of Joshua’s career.

Victory will put him in line to fight the winner of that December bout in Riyadh, and potentially complete the type of redemption arc that makes boxing such a compelling and cinematic sport.

Defeats to Andy Ruiz and Usyk may have forced the 34-year-old to rebuild his career, but nobody has done more to revitalise heavyweight boxing than the 2012 Olympic gold medallist.

That’s a fact he can underline once again at the weekend in front of a record 96,000 sell-out crowd against a dangerous underdog who arrives in great form after impressive wins against Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic.

Victory over Dubois would add yet more depth to a resume only unified champion Usyk can trump. It’s also a chance to join the select few who have claimed a version of the title on three occasions, alongside stellar names such as Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield.

"He is definitely dialled in," said Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn. "He seems a bit more like: 'I must win this fight’. He's talked a little bit more about legacy, and then he kind of reins it in and goes back to: 'No, it's about performance’. But I think he realises firstly how much he needs to win; and two, the value of being world champion again – and the legacy that comes with it.”

Joshua could also emulate Lewis in winning an all-British world title stadium fight that will captivate the nation just as his predecessor did when stopping a game Frank Bruno at Cardiff Arms Park in 1993.

Joshua’s career has been full of such spectacular moments – none more so than the first time he filled Wembley for his statement victory over Wladimir Klitschko in 2017.

However, seven years later, that remains his best win, and perhaps the chief reason the names Usyk and Fury tend to follow him around. For all the highlight reel knockouts and bumper crowds, Joshua is still searching for that signature victory over one of his elite contemporaries.

From 2016 to 2018, there was a big two – Joshua and the American Deontay Wilder – but as was often the case before Saudi Arabia's involvement in the sport, rival promoters failed to make it happen.

Fury’s return from his long hiatus to challenge Wilder in 2018 made that a big three before Usyk’s rise from cruiserweight established a big four in 2020. Wilder’s subsequent decline has trimmed that number back again.

Joshua has never shared a ring with Wilder. His long-running rivalry with Fury remains unconsummated. He is 0-2 against Usyk.

That might seem a harsh assessment of a man who has done so much to enrich the sport, but ultimately these are the type of fights that will define his legacy. As a self-confessed scholar of boxing history, he will know that better than anyone.

"If they call me to fight them, 100 per cent. It's what I do. Fight. I'll be ready. It'll be an honour to fight them two," Joshua said this week. "[But] I'm not focusing on Usyk and Fury. I'll watch it. Let me get past Dubois. We'll see."

At 34, Joshua arrives at Wembley as a heavy favourite, riding a four-fight winning streak and looking as good as he has done in a long time under new coach Ben Davison.

Another spectacular performance will crank up the hype for an undisputed bout against either Fury or Usyk in the first half of 2025.

Both possibilities present unfavourable style match-ups for Joshua, but both are also nearing the end of their careers, and how these next two fights play out will invariably alter perceptions once again.

Lewis was famously introduced by ring announcer Michael Buffer as having beaten every man he had faced “by way of rematch”. The same could be said of Joshua if he can get past Dubois and somehow find a way to overcome his nemesis Usyk, while a historic bout against domestic rival Fury surely remains both his grail and his endgame.