Anthony Joshua bids to make history on September 21 by becoming a three-time heavyweight champion at a record-breaking Wembley sellout.
The former two-time ruler faces Daniel Dubois, and according to Eddie Hearn, he will deserve his place among Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis, Vitali Klitschko, and Evander Holyfield in an exclusive club.
Hearn is rightly lauding his fighter as his promoter, but there are serious question marks to note in Joshua’s achievements.
If Joshua manages to defeat his compatriot, Dubois, the victory will be his second vacant title win against a paper champion. The first was Charles Martin, who was handed the title on a plate when Tyson Fury was stripped in 2015. Martin fought Vyacheslav Glazkov for the belt the IBF wrongly took from Fury and basically won by default due to injury.
Less than three months later, Hearn enticed the American to defend against Joshua in the challenger’s backyard with a substantial monetary offer. It was an easy first championship win for Joshua, which would never have been possible had the IBF not stripped Fury.
Joshua’s first attempt at a title should have come against Fury, the actual titleholder.
A year later, it was ‘lift off AJ’ against Wladimir Klitschko in another championship win that has a tinge of politics. Although it wasn’t one of Joshua’s three-time attempts, Joshua became the unified heavyweight belt holder by defeating Klitschko for another vacant title taken from Fury.
Fury was in negotiations for a contracted rematch with Klitschko having dethroned the Ukrainian in 2015. However, when it became clear that Fury was in no position to defend due to his spiraling lifestyle at the time, the WBA stripped Fury and gave the belt back to Klitschko. After stopping Klitschko, who had been out of the ring for eighteen months, Joshua picked up a second world title without facing the recognized king [Fury].
Joseph Parker then stepped up to the plate for Joshua to land a third unified strap, another heavyweight who profited from Fury’s downfall.
However, when Joshua was wiped out by Andy Ruiz Jr. in New York a year later, losing all his championships on his United States debut, his opportunity to become a two-time champion opened up. Again, this victory will have a huge question mark against it when anyone looks at the history books.
It’s no secret that Ruiz hadn’t trained for months when Joshua invoked his rematch clause, which stipulated that the Briton must get an immediate shot at the title within six months.
Ruiz was forced to defend despite being massively overweight in a gimme win for the 2012 Olympic gold medalist that had significant shine taken off. Ruiz even managed to go the distance with Joshua despite admitting he never had a training camp.
Now, we move on to September 21, Anthony Joshua’s historic day of destiny. If the Londoner dethrones Dubois, he will be forever known as a three-time heavyweight champion. However, Dubois was handed the title without a fight, meaning it’s yet another vacant title.
Joshua should be challenging Oleksandr Usyk for the belt, but having lost twice to the formidable Ukrainian, a workaround has again been implemented to ensure an easier route. Therefore, all three of Joshua’s top-division championships come with a distinct whiff of boxing politics.
To become a world heavyweight titleholder three times over, Joshua should have beaten Fury and Usyk. Instead, he would have overcome Charles Martin, an unfit Andy Ruiz Jr., and a paper champion in Daniel Dubois.
Those are the cold-hard facts that shouldn’t be ignored later this month.
Putting Joshua anywhere near the same bracket as Ali, Lewis, or Holyfield, all of whom defeated the number one in their respective eras, is a considerable reach at best.
Anthony Joshua’s three-time heavyweight champion feat
April 2016 – Charles Martin [title vacated by Tyson Fury and won via injury]
December 2019 – Andy Ruiz Jr. [champion partied for months and didn’t train]
September 2024 – Daniel Dubois? [title vacated and handed to champion without a fight]
The views expressed in this article are the opinions of Phil Jay. Learn more, read all articles from the experienced boxing writer, and follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
