The fight odds for the Wembley Stadium showdown between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois have been revealed after the bout was made official on Wednesday afternoon. ‘AJ’ will enter the ring on the 21st of September in search of a third world heavyweight title following the decision of Oleksandr Usyk to relinquish his IBF heavyweight title earlier in the week.
Confusion surrounded the status of the IBF championship from the moment that Usyk beat Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia last month to become the undisputed champion. The Ukrainian had barely had his hand raised when reports began to circulate that the governing body wanted a mandatory defence of their title to be made within three months – or Usyk would have to relinquish the gold. With a contractually obligated rematch with Fury set in stone, a defence by Usyk was always unlikely.
The inevitable decision was announced on Tuesday night, with the 37-year-old unified champion taking to X to relay his decision:
“Hey everybody, Anthony and Daniel, listen. I know the IBF title is important to you, so it is my present to you on September 21”.
Just hours later, interim IBF heavyweight champion Dubois was upgraded to a full world titleholder. However, at least according to the oddsmakers, ‘Triple D’ faces a tough task in his first defence against Joshua.
Anthony Joshua is a Heavy Favourite to Defeat Daniel Dubois
‘AJ’ has never lost a fight at Wembley Stadium
The clash sees the national stadium play host to two London-born boxers, Dubois from Greenwich, and Joshua from Watford. An estimated 100,000 fans are expected to pack into Wembley for the card – setting an attendance record in the process.
Joshua is no stranger to Wembley, having fought there on three previous occasions. Dubois, by contrast, will be making his debut at the iconic venue. That difference in big league experience is one of the reasons why Joshua is a large favourite for the contest.
Joshua is expected to make light work of Dubois as he seeks to win his third world title. The 34-year-old’s odds of winning the fight are just 1/5, compared to 7/2 for Dubois to take the victory. Nobody is going to get rich backing Joshua either, with a £10 bet on him returning just £12 in total. That same £10 on Dubois would net a total of £45 if he pulls off the upset.
Based on these numbers, the Matchroom star has a 79% chance of a win. However, it’s worth remembering that Joshua was a 4/11 favourite in his first fight against Usyk – and that night could hardly have ended worse for him as he fell to a unanimous decision loss.
Joshua isn’t expected to have a similar issue on the 21st of September, though. An ‘AJ’ victory inside the first six rounds is considered to be the most likely outcome by oddsmakers, priced up at 11/8 (£10 returns a total of £23.75). Joshua already has 25 knockout victories to his credit across his career and can make heavyweight history by adding to that tally against Dubois.
