Anthony Joshua will have his first title-seeking fight as he faces fellow British boxer, Daniel Dubois on Saturday at the Wembley Stadium in London.

It is his first title fight since losing his belt to Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk in September 2021.

A win for Joshua on Saturday carries great fortunes. A win makes hm the IBF World Champion. The victory would make him the number one contender to unify the heavyweight division.

Joshua is 34 years old and has an impressive track record. His media presence is huge, especially in the wake of his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in September 2021.

In an interview with the BBC, he talked about what he has done to get back so close to success.

“I’ve worked hard and I’ve been through a lot of pain and I’ve worked hard to get better,” he said. “I hope those experiences don’t happen again. As you saw that night [after the second Usyk defeat], I don’t like to lose,” he said.

Now another door is opening for a champion whose career shows no signs of slowing down.

Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) takes on fellow Englishman Daniel Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs). Dubois is 27 years old.

A victory for Joshua would place him in the elite group of boxers who have won the world heavyweight title three times: Vitali Klitschko,Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Michael Moorer and Muhammad Ali. A place among the greats.

Joshua’s career spans twelve years. It began with the 2012 Olympic gold medal, fittingly at London 2012. It may seem risky, but fans and the boxing world see it as a stepping stone to the fight everyone wants to see: A potential showdown between Joshua and former champion Tyson Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs), 36, who faces Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) in a rematch on 21 December.

However, it is all up in the air because if Dubois wins on Saturday, the British legend could be derailed once again. Fury would also have to beat Usyk in his next fight for the big fight to happen. Either way, there are plenty of possibilities. Can you see Joshua and Usyk meeting for a third time?

Undisputed heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk has been released after detention by law-enforcement officers at Poland’s Krakow airport, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday.

“I was outraged by this attitude towards our citizen and champion,” Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app.

“Our champion was released and no one is detaining him anymore.”

It was not immediately clear why the 37-year-old Usyk was detained. The WBC, WBO and WBA champion, who also won gold at the 2012 London Olympics, has been a national hero aiding Kyiv’s war efforts.

Poland’s foreign and interior ministries did not immediately reply to Reuters’ requests for comments.

“Friends, everything is fine,” Usyk said in an Instagram post. “There was a misunderstanding that was quickly resolved. Thank you to everyone who was concerned.”

He added, “Respect to the Polish law enforcement officers who perform their duties regardless of height, weight, arm span, and titles.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X that his ministry will contact the Polish foreign ministry, as it considered the detention “disproportionate and unacceptable in relation to our champion.”

Polish TVP Info, a television news channel run by state broadcaster TVP, published a social media video on its website showing Polish law-enforcement officers walking the handcuffed Usyk through what appeared to be an airport.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the video.

Usyk beat Tyson Fury in May to become undisputed heavyweight boxing world champion in a thrilling contest at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.

The 37-year-old Ukrainian is the first boxer to hold all four major heavyweight belts at the same time and the first undisputed champ since the end of Lennox Lewis’ reign in April 2000.

Usyk’s charity fund, Usyk Foundation, aids Kyiv’s forces in the war that Russia launched with a full-scale invasion against Ukraine in 2022. It buys, among others, ambulances and delivers humanitarian aid to the front line.

Usyk’s wife, Yekaterina Usyk, who posted a blurred photo of her husband surrounded by uniformed officers, said in an Instagram post in English that she was thankful her husband was free after a misunderstanding.

-Reuters

Mike Tyson said he was fit and ready for his Nov. 15 fight against Jake Paul as the two boxers had a joint news conference in New York City on Sunday.

The match was originally scheduled for July 20 but was postponed after former heavyweight champion Tyson, 58, had an ulcer flare-up that forced some resting time.

“Iron Mike”, who has a 50-6 record with 44 knockouts, was one of the most feared heavyweights in history but has not fought a professional fight since 2005.

When asked why he returned to the ring so long after retirement, Tyson’s response was clear: “Because I can. Who else can do it but me? We have a YouTuber fighting the greatest fighter ever to live.”

“He may have been in the ring with people who have the same intentions, but the actuality, no.

“As soon as I catch this guy it’s going to be totally over, he is going to run. He is gonna run like a thief.”

Paul, who was booed and heckled by the crowd, claimed he would put Tyson to sleep.

“I am here to make 40 million dollars and knock out a legend,” Paul said.

“I love Mike and I respect him but we are not friends anymore until Nov. 15,” he said.

When asked if he was afraid of being in the ring with Paul, Tyson replied sarcastically: “I am terrified.”

YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul, 27, is 31 years his junior and has a 10-1 boxing record.

The fight will be streamed live globally on Netflix and will take place at the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

-Reuters