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Daniel Dubois v Anthony Joshua: IBF heavyweight championship – live | Boxing Tale of the tapeHere’s a look at how Dubois and Joshua measure up ahead of tonight’s main event. The challenger has a one-inch advantage in height and a four-inch edge in reach. The difference in experience between the fighters would also seem to favor Joshua: this is his 13th world title fight and only Dubois’s second. Key events A crowd of 96,000 singing Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline in full throat. Your mileage may vary on what’s become a sacred ritual of the British fight night experience, but there’s no denying the intensity of the spectacle at this scale. Liam Gallagher closes his set with Cigarettes & Alcohol and the fighter entrances should be next. Say what you want about the infusion of Saudi money into boxing, but no one can dispute the production values. Tale of the tapeHere’s a look at how Dubois and Joshua measure up ahead of tonight’s main event. The challenger has a one-inch advantage in height and a four-inch edge in reach. The difference in experience between the fighters would also seem to favor Joshua: this is his 13th world title fight and only Dubois’s second. Liam Gallagher’s pre-fight performance on a stage at the center of the pitch is under way. He’s opened with Rock ’n’ Roll Star before going into Supersonic. A bit of advance scouting for Oasis’ dates here in 10 months’ time? The stars are out for tonight’s big fight. Meanwhile, Liam Gallagher has just emerged from the tunnel at Wembley for a pre-fight performance. Our Donald McRae was at Friday’s weigh-in at Trafalgar Square, where Dubois and Joshua faced off one last time.
PreambleHello and welcome to Wembley Stadium for tonight’s all-British heavyweight title fight between Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua. A post-war-record crowd of about 96,000 is expected for this highly anticipated scrap for the IBF’s version of the heavyweight championship which until recently was owned by Oleksandr Usyk, who unified the long-fractured title in boxing’s prestige division by defeating Tyson Fury in May. Owing to the sport’s broken mandatory challenger system, the title was vacated by Usyk and essentially emailed to Dubois, who will defend it tonight against Joshua, who’s already lost to Usyk twice. If you’re confused you’re not alone. But all alphabet soup shenanigans aside, we’ve got a heck of a scrap in the offing and lots to look forward to. Joshua, who came in at 252.5lbs at Friday’s weigh-in at Trafalgar Square and is back in a title fight for the first time since his second loss to Usyk back in August 2022, called himself a “gladiator” preparing to enter battle. “If I can ask you one favor, go home tonight and make a prayer for me, for success tomorrow, that I will become three-time heavyweight champion of the world,” Joshua told the crowd. “I look at myself as a gladiator, and I’m about to step into an arena tomorrow to perform for the people who love to see blood, guts and glory.” Dubois, who came in at a career-high 248.6lbs, was equally confident despite the occupying the underdog role. “It’s time to get into the ring and fight,” he said. “Let’s go. I’ve been working hard. A lot of work and training has gone into this and I’m ready to go. A win, by any means necessary.” The final undercard bout is in the books after Hamzah Sheeraz’s two-round destruction of Tyler Denny for the European middleweight championship in a bad mismatch. Next up: Dubois v Joshua. Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Donald McRae’s lookahead to tonight’s main event. Source link Posted: 2024-09-21 21:55:24 |
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