Daniel Dubois on Joe Joyce and going ‘old school’ to prove a point

Dubois finally meets Joyce on Saturday night in a fight of two of Britain’s undefeated heavyweights that once appeared destined to fail

Daniel Dubois has been hit hard in the pocket by boxing's new normal but the heavyweight is adamant the pandemic has provided him with the ideal platform on which to shine.

“It's stripped back,” he explains. “That appeals to me. No more hiding, no more crowd, it's just a fight now.”

Dubois, a man of few words and without any desire for showmanship beyond his natural affinity for fighting, takes on Joe Joyce on Saturday night at Church House in Westminster, the same place Winston Churchill confirmed the sinking of the Bismarck at 11am on May 27 in 1941.

It is said the cheers were loud and long after the prime minister's announcement that morning but it will be almost silent on Saturday night if someone is downed in the empty hall. That suits Dubois down to the ground.

“I've been watching boxing all throughout lockdown,” he continues. “I've found it more enjoyable than it used to be, now it's without all the whole party atmosphere. I don't have time for that.

“It's just two men in a room, in the ring and it's just old school. It feels like it's back to how boxing used to be. You can hear the punches land.”

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Dubois vs Joyce

Old school, too, was the pair's decision to face each other despite a dramatic pay cut for both men. The lack of any crowd means that millions of pounds in gate receipts have gone. The decision has also been made to keep it off pay-per-view.

Many others would have decided against taking such a risky fight in these lean circumstances but Dubois never had any doubts.

“Of course this fight is worth a lot more than what we're getting paid,” he explains. “Especially if we could have had a crowd there.

“But it is what it is. We are living in strange times at the moment and I really wanted to have this fight instead of waiting too long and risking it never happening at all. Me and Joe could have gone our separate ways and there would have been talk about 'what if' these two had met.

“But I want to prove to the world and to myself that I'm the better fighter and the only way to do that is to beat him.

“I was starting to worry that this fight would never happen. I was a little bit sceptical but in my mind I believed it would come off somehow. Even though there was a lot of talk, I've been preparing in my mind, mentally, for a fight. Now we're here.”

It had looked at one point as though this fight between two of Britain's undefeated heavyweights was destined to fail.

The towering duo had been officially set to meet on 11 April but coronavirus put paid to those plans as well as rearrangements in both July and October. But the pair both took low-key, stay-busy fights in the summer and agreed to finally tangle this weekend.

It will end a long-running feud, the roots of which can be traced all the way back to Sheffield when Joyce and a teenage Dubois would spar during their time on the GB Boxing set-up as team-mates. Another man who Dubois shared the ring with back then was Nathan Gorman, who he stopped in five rounds when they met as professionals last year.

Dubois said: “I remember those spars with Joyce back then. And to be honest, even then I thought that we'd end up fighting as pros down the line.

“Actually if you look at all the guys I sparred on GB I might end up fighting all of them: There's Gorman, Frazer Clarke, Joe Joyce and Anthony Joshua – who knows?”

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Tales about his spars with Joshua at the English Institute of Sport had become stuff of legend during the fledgling months of Dubois' pro career. It was even suggested that the youngster had knocked out his far more established opponent during one particular session. Joshua has denied such claims.

The chances of the pair meeting for real seems a long way off but there is a possibility that Dubois could fight for one of Joshua's belts at some point in 2021 should the world champion decide to relinquish.

If the London 2012 gold medalist beats Kubrat Pulev as expected in December, it is likely that he will be required to face WBO mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk in his next fight. However, with the chance of an all-British megafight with Tyson Fury on the horizon, Joshua could vacate that title instead.

Dubois' promoter Frank Warren is hoping the WBO will order the winner of Dubois-Joyce to take on Usyk for the vacant title and, despite being just 23 years old with only 43 professional rounds under his belt, 'Dynamite' feels ready.

“Definitely, that could happen already,” Dubois says. “Right now it's a time of opportunity and if they can get a belt, if Joshua relinquishes it, then we can get it on the line.

“I haven't been knocked off course at all by the pandemic. The whole world slowed down for a bit but I'm glad that we are still on schedule.

“I feel like right now everybody needs to be entertained. The world needs to be entertained and I'm honoured that I have the chance to do that.”

Daniel Dubois v Joe Joyce, Saturday 28th November, is exclusively live for BT Sport subscribers.  Sign up to watch, contract free, with BT Sport Monthly Pass. For more info visit bt.com/monthlypass