Anthony Joshua has warned Daniel Dubois he is prepared to die in the ring.
The Watford warrior has abandoned the cautious approach he used to adopt to avoid danger.
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Under trainer Ben Davidson, AJ 2.0 is brash, spiteful, and ruthless.
And he is set to take on the toughest of the tough once again, beating IBF king Dubois at Wembley on Saturday to become a three-time world heavyweight champion.
Joshua insisted: “He’s fighting someone who is willing to die out there – who is willing to give everything he has to win.
“It takes more than being strong to be a champion, and more than being a complete warrior.
“Of course that’s great, but from what I’ve studied, read and what the greats who came before me have said, I truly believe that it takes more than just being a physical specimen.
“It’s a nice attribute to have, but when you meet someone who’s willing to take it from you, you’ve given them your best effort and they’re able to take it, then you know what it takes to be a champion.
“That’s what I did. I went to the well.”
Joshua put everything on the line in his first Wembley win over Wladimir Klitschko in 2017 – he fell behind in the fifth round and barely recovered until the eighth.
He’s fighting a guy who’s willing to die out there – who’s willing to give it his all to win.
Anthony Joshua
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But a shock defeat to Andy Ruiz in 2019, in which he was knocked out four times and lost his world titles for the first time, prompted Joshua to make a drastic change in his fighting style and mindset.
In a careful rematch win over Mexican Ruiz, a prolonged hold-up of Kubrat Pulev, a painful points loss to Oleksandr Usyk and two exhausting rebuilding wins, he boxed on range and avoided danger.
But since linking up with trainer Davison, the former Olympic king has dealt a crushing blow to Otto Wallin and destroyed Francis Ngannou, who is an MMA specialist and deserved a points decision against Tyson Fury four months ago.
It was Usyk who dethroned Joshua as world heavyweight champion for the second time in September 2021.
Eleven months later, the Ukrainian genius gave AJ a hard time again – and the Englishman took out his anger in a bizarre way after the bout, throwing his championship belt on the floor and arguing with his team.
‘He wouldn’t want me to end the gravy train’, says former world champion challenging Jake Paul ahead of Mike Tyson fightJoshua, 34, later tearfully apologised for having disappointed the nation.
Once again, it would be a liberating experience to see a record-breaking 96,000 fans pay a visit to Wembley to watch this clash between all English teams.
Dubois, 27, won the interim IBF belt by stopping Filip Hrgovic in June. The Londoner became the full champion after Usyk was stripped of the crown.
But Joshua joked that another nightmare evening could unleash an even more crippling rage that would catapult him from the VIP seats to the gods.
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Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois: Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the huge world title fight at Wembley
He joked: “If I lose I’ll be even worse off… I’ll go into the stadium and destroy everything!”
“The fans are there. Some people want to see me there, so I have to work.
“It’s been a blessing and I don’t take it for granted. I’ve given Dan the respect he deserves in terms of my preparation.
“I have honored those 96,000 fans by preparing myself to compete and traveling the world to find a coach and a home where I can improve.”
“I’ve got to do it now on Saturday night. I just want to make sure that everyone who comes to support me leaves feeling like ‘we did it’.”
As usual, attention is also focused on allegations that Saudi Arabia is using high-level sport to burnish its reputation as a dictatorship.
But Joshua, like many other working-class boys in this most brutal of occupations, is more concerned with washing his dirty clothes after his latest battle.
He smiled: “You know what’s crazy, you wake up on a Sunday morning and it’s the same situation. Your bills still come out of your account, you have to do laundry.
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“After the Francis Ngannou fight I was in Saudi Arabia in an Airbnb.
“I was just ironing and washing clothes after the fight with Ngannou. It’s crazy. The only difference is that losing hurts.”
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