TThe December 23 pay-per-view fight card in Saudi Arabia was hailed as “The Day of Reckoning.” And for some of the players in action, that’s exactly what happened.

But for Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois, it was Reclamation Day.

Both British heavyweights were at times seen as representing the future of the division, and perhaps the sport as a whole, each suffered shocking losses following stoppages, each was slightly rebuilt only for both to fall miniature against Oleksandr Usyk, and each of them was, to varying degrees, written to set off on the Day of Reckoning. But that card they shared six months ago was the night they both started rejuvenating their careers.

Sure, both won fights they should have won. AJ was the clear favorite to beat Otto Wallin. And Dubois was supposed to beat Jarrell Miller.

But the “how” matters. In boxing, it always matters.

Dubois overcame several ponderous blows from Miller in the early rounds, showed willingness to trade, gradually took control and didn’t settle for a decision victory — instead forcing a stoppage over the previously unbeaten “Massive Baby” with eight seconds remaining in what was — tellingly, given his in-ring record to that point — the most significant victory of his career.

Joshua, facing an opponent whose only defeat was a 12-round loss to then-lineal champion Tyson Fury, showed confidence, fought aggressively and outworked Wallin, punishing him one-sidedly until his corner gave out after round five. It was AJ’s most significant win in at least three years since Kubrat Pulev, and perhaps in four years since the Andy Ruiz rematch, and arguably the most impressive end-to-end domination of a world-class fighter in his entire career.

On Reckoning Day, Joshua and Dubois announced that they were still warriors to be reckoned with. Then, both went out and improved their performances in their subsequent outings.

If you want, ignore Joshua’s win over Francis Ngannou on March 8 as simply the more notable Butterbean-Bart Gunn. It was undoubtedly a show of force in the form of a farce. But it was just as vital a victory for Joshua. This was a fighter with all the physical gifts a heavyweight champion could ask for, reminding the world what he was capable of. And he didn’t do it just for himself. He did it for .

For defenders of the sport, his right hand erased the embarrassment of Fury’s victory over Ngannou.

On June 1, Dubois wrote his own statement. Not for all of boxing. Only for myself.

Dubois was the underdog against unbeaten Croatian Filip Hrgovic on another loaded card in Riyadh. And it seemed the bookmakers were right for the first two rounds, as “Dynamite” repeatedly let right hands detonate on him. But just like in his match with Miller, he persevered through the tough times after being criticized for his losses to Usyk and Joe Joyce. And he gradually turned the tide. Dubois dominated until the fifth. He rocked Hrgovic with right hands in the seventh set. The fight was stopped in the eighth.

About five months after the best and most significant victory of his career, Dubois picked up another best and most significant victory of his career.

The parallel paths of these two British heavyweights are will take place on September 21 at Wembley Stadiumit was made official on Wednesday. And the timing couldn’t be more perfect. While Joshua’s dream intercontinental showdown with Deontay Wilder has eluded him to the point of irrelevance, and a British all-marble mega-fight with Fury has yet to quite materialize, AJ now has Dubois in line as both reach their peaks.

If you had told me before the Day of Reckoning that this fight would take place nine months later and that I would care about it as much as I do, I would not have believed you.

December 22, 2023 Joshua and Dubois seemed more like a throwback to the era of British “horizontal trucks” than the standard bearers of the glamor division’s future. But here they are, two of the hottest weightlifters alive not named Oleksandr Usyk, and the idea of ​​them swapping skins is absolutely enticing.

This is despite the complete stupidity of advertising this event as a heavyweight championship fight.

Joshua did his best to address boxing embarrassment as he eviscerated Ngannou, but boxing, like a salamander that regains its limbs if you cut one off, has a way of creating recent embarrassments every time a glimmer of sanity momentarily appears.

Usyk unified all the belts, became the undisputed champion, brought reason and order to the division and dispelled all possible doubts about who The Man is. And he was forced to give up one of his belts so that it could be given to Dubois. Because… boxing. Because God forbid that fans should be treated like adults.

It would be bad enough if Joshua and Dubois fought for the vacant title to create a BS “feud” over Usyk’s undisputed status starting on the night of September 21st. But this is even dumber. Joshua-Dubois, a fight between two balmy heavyweight contenders, features Dubois defending his title against AJ.

If anything, narratively, the newcomer Dubois plays the role of challenger to the established veteran. But don’t believe the evidence you’ve seen with your own eyes and ears; rather accept what the sanctioning body tells you – that Dubois is defending the world championship against Joshua.

Usyk still walks the earth, and yet we are led to believe that one of the two fighters who have a combined 0-3 against him should rightly be called “champion.”

This saddens me because the Dubois-Joshua fight itself is an amazing fight. These are two contenders trying to become the man most deserving of fighting the winner of Usyk-Fury II. You don’t need higher rates.

Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren came very close to delivering the perfect quote announcing the fight at a press conference this week.

“It doesn’t get any better than that,” Warren said. “Two Brits fighting for the IBF title, two of the greatest heavyweights in the world, and as we all know, when you have two quality British fighters fighting for a title like that, you always get a classic fight. Massive punchers. It won’t go the distance. Someone’s going to walk away.”

Just remove any reference to a little thing that rightfully belongs to Usyk, and Warren’s quote will be worth reprinting on every website, every social media post, and every poster advertising the fight.

“It doesn’t get any better than this. Two Brits, two of the biggest heavyweights in the world, and as we all know, when you have two quality British fighters fighting each other with such high stakes, you always get a classic fight. Massive punchers. It won’t go the distance. Someone’s going to walk away.”

Of course, the promise of a knockout is a classic promoter’s phrase, but it’s reasonable to believe that Joshua and Dubois will keep it. Both are power punchers, with Dubois boasting 20 KOs among his 21 wins; Joshua finished things early in 25 of his 28 wins. Both have a certain fragility. Joshua was stopped once and knocked down four times. Both of Dubois’ losses were by stoppage, and he was knocked down six times.

Both have experienced the lowest ebbs in boxing. And that’s what makes Dubois-Joshua, with both in the best form of their careers, so fascinating. It’s exactly the right fight at the right time – and in the right place, at Wembley, in front of a no doubt loud and not at all sober crowd of his countrymen, rather than in a musty and sterile arena in Saudi Arabia.

Both are still youthful by contemporary heavyweight standards. Dubois is youthful in almost every respect, at 26 years elderly. But at 34, Joshua is younger than Usyk, younger than Fury, younger than Wilder and younger than Zhilei Zhang. Judging by his last two fights, he may be reaching his peak – more than seven years after his victory over Wladimir Klitschko. If physical abilities do not erode, skills develop, self-confidence is restored, and the wisdom and peace that comes with experience prevails, then we may not have seen the best of AJ yet.

If that happens and he wins at Wembley, I hope we have the good sense not to write Dubois off as he suffers his third professional defeat. And if Dubois wins and completely takes over from Joshua as the latest British heavyweight mega-talent to hit rock bottom and deliver on his promise, I hope we don’t call that the end of AJ too.

I like everything about this fight… except for one thing. So let’s agree to ignore that one thing and appreciate this fight for what it is – two grave contenders trying to establish supremacy over the other.

No, Frank Warren, it doesn’t get any better than that. You should have ended your sales pitch there.