Joshua, Bruno, Dubois: Does Wembley inspire British heavyweights?

Independent

6 days ago

Daniel Dubois will step out in front of 90,000 fans at Wembley on Saturday night for the biggest fight of his life against Oleksandr Usyk.
The nerves are bound to be jangling with the undisputed heavyweight championship on the line and Usyk has the advantage of having beaten Dubois before two years ago.
But Dubois won at Wembley last year, and it has tended to be a happy hunting ground for British heavyweights in the past.
Let's take a look back at those who have dazzled under the famous arch ahead of Dubois' shot at glory.
Frank Bruno
Fan-favourite Bruno lost to Tim Witherspoon at Wembley in 1986 as he fell short in his bid to win the WBA heavyweight title.
He would go on to suffer defeats by Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis in world title bouts and may have thought he was never going to get his hands on heavyweight gold.
But he received a fourth and final chance when he took on Oliver McCall at England's national stadium in September 1995.
Bruno made his trademark fast start and moved into the lead on the scorecards as tens of thousands of fans roared him on from ringside.
The muscular Londoner tired in the closing rounds and had to dig deep to get over the line, but when the final bell rang there was only one winner.
Bruno claimed a unanimous decision victory on a famous night in the capital as he finally got his crowning moment.
Anthony Joshua
After winning a gold medal at the London Olympics in 2012, it became clear that Joshua was going to be British boxing's next big star.
He swiftly moved through the heavyweight rankings and won a world title in just his 16th fight as he dispatched Charles Martin inside two rounds.
Following a couple of title defences, Joshua was thrown in with Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley in April 2017.
What followed was an all-time classic as Joshua and Klitschko both hit the canvas in a dramatic back-and-forth heavyweight scrap.
With little to separate the pair heading into the final two rounds, Joshua uncorked a peach of an uppercut to send Klitschko tumbling again and refused to let his opponent off the hook.
Another knockdown followed before the referee jumped in to give Joshua his coming-of-age night.
Less than 18 months later, Joshua returned to Wembley to defend his unified titles against Alexander Povetkin.
Once again, it was far from straightforward for Joshua as he was briefly wobbled early, but he regathered his composure before knocking Povetkin out in the seventh round.
Tyson Fury
Fury became champion for the first time by beating Wladimir Klitschko at a football stadium in Dusseldorf, so he was never going to be fazed by fighting at Wembley.
In April 2022 he faced Dillian Whyte under the arch and insisted in the build-up that it would be his last bout before he headed into retirement.
Fury outboxed Whyte in the opening rounds before walking his fellow Brit onto a huge uppercut.
Whyte went straight down and was in no position to continue when he rose to his feet on unsteady legs.
The 'Gypsy King' did briefly walk away from the sport after that win, but returned just eight months later to beat Derek Chisora for a third time at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Daniel Dubois
Dubois entered the ring as the underdog for his all-British clash with Anthony Joshua last September.
He was the less experienced man, had lost comprehensively to Usyk the previous year and was taking on a fighter who had lit up Wembley on multiple occasions before.
But Dubois had picked up back-to-back knockout wins over Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic, and was riding the crest of a wave.
He looked like a man who refused to be denied during his ringwalk, and then hurt Joshua inside the first minute of the contest.
A huge knockdown followed in the final seconds of the first round, and Joshua was purely in survival mode after that as he went down again and again.
He finally had some success in the fifth round as he briefly stunned Dubois, but as he went in to follow up Dubois landed a huge right hand of his own to finish the fight in emphatic fashion.
The 27-year-old IBF champion will be hoping to land a similar punch on Usyk this weekend to become the undisputed heavyweight king.