As the four pre-eminent heavyweights of the past decade; Fury, Joshua, Wilder and Usyk, jostle in the departure lounge of their mid-thirties, a crop of aspiring heavyweights are eager to emerge as the preeminent contender beyond the long shadow cast by the ageing quartet. Among them, 26-year-old British heavyweight Daniel Dubois.

This weekend, on the latest instalment of the Saudi Arabian propaganda department’s sporting output, wedged beneath veteran Deontay Wilder’s last hurrah with Zilhei Zhang, the apparently awkward Londoner will seek to defy the doubters and overcome Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic. It is a contest with consequence, the winner will become the IBF’s successor to Oleksander Usyk. Yes, the IBF found a way.

Despite his brawn, a solid, if simplistic style and thunderous punching power, Daniel Dubois will once again be challenged to prove he has the mettle to compete for the titles on Saturday. It will require a career best-performance to catch and beat the craftier Hrgovic, 17-0 (14ko) and Dubois may need to demonstrate his ability to overcome adversity in order to do so.

As Dubois sits gulping air between the sentences of his answers to media questions ahead of Saturday, the innocence still lives in his face and the glances to left and right in search of the certainty the inquisitor pursues evokes a peculiar wish in this observer that he can summon that performance and quash the doubts about his resilience.

Continue reading “Beyond the wires. Dubois faces Hrgovic” →