Despite dominating boxing headlines for over a decade in the UK, Anthony Joshua is a fighter that has often kept his cards close to his chest outside the ring.

He likes to let his fists do the talking, and more often than not they have done exactly that.

He looked a broken man, weighed down by the expectations placed upon him and feeling like he had failed everyone.

After falling short that night in Saudi Arabia, few predicted that Joshua would ever scale the top of the heavyweight division again.

Anthony Joshua hit rock-bottom and broke down in tears after losing to Oleksandr Usyk for a second time in 2022

He has built himself back up and is now set to fight for a world title at Wembley Stadium

Joshua will take on Daniel Dubois (right) as he bids to become a three-time heavyweight champion

Yet on Saturday night, he has the chance to become a three-time heavyweight king when he faces Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium.

It has been a rebuild two years in the making, and he is just one knockout punch away from completing his comeback.

His turnaround all started just days after that Usyk loss. His domestic rival Tyson Fury called him out for a blockbuster showdown, and Joshua was fully on board.

However, Fury started to move the goalposts by putting a deadline on Joshua signing the contract and the fight fell through.

This proved to be a blessing for Joshua as he took some much-needed time away from the ring to figure out how he wanted to move forward. It was step one of his rehabilitation process – giving himself a break.

But that alone was never going to get him back to the top. He needed to step through those ropes again at some point, while making sure he picked the right opponents to build his confidence.

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn got this spot on by pitting him against Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius for his first two fights in 2023.

Both men were respected world-level contenders, but neither stood a realistic chance of beating Joshua if he was anywhere near his best. Sure enough, AJ picked up two solid victories, and finished Helenius in fine style with one thunderous right hand.

Neither performance indicated that Joshua was back on top form, though. He still looked a little fragile and needed to be taken out of his comfort zone.

Ahead of a December dust-up with Otto Wallin in Saudi Arabia, Joshua splashed out £2,000 on a four-day retreat to live alone in a pitch black room.

Joshua took himself off to a darkness retreat last year as part of his rebuilding process

He splashed out £2,000 on the retreat and spent four days thinking about his future

He insisted he was not bored due to having ‘so much stored in the subconscious’

One of the key decisions he made during this period was bringing on board a new trainer in Ben Davison (left)

That may sound boring, but Joshua insisted it wasn’t as there is ‘so much stored in the subconscious’.

It gave him thinking time, and he made a key decision during this period by turning to highly-rated trainer Ben Davison.

Davison famously trained Fury for his first five fights after he returned from a three-year layoff in 2018 following a battle with depression and excessive drinking.

Davison helped the Gypsy King battle back from the brink, and Joshua believed he could have the same transformative effect on him.

Joshua had two fights in the space of 11 weeks either side of the turn of the year, and produced his best performances since his first stint as world champion.

He dispatched Wallin in five rounds, and then knocked Francis Ngannou out cold inside two rounds in March.

Asked what had led to his resurgence in the immediate aftermath of beating Ngannou so spectacularly, Joshua simply replied: ‘The Ben Davison Performance Centre’.

But it wasn’t just Davison who Joshua embraced after that win. The 2012 Olympic gold medallist was also spotted sharing a ringside kiss with hairdresser Kika Osunde.

Joshua was spotted cosying up with British hairdresser Kika Osunde (back) in Dubai earlier this year

The pair shared a kiss at ringside after Joshua beat Francis Ngannou in March

Just days later, the couple put on a cosy display as they went quad biking in Dubai. Joshua was all smiles as the British hair salon owner and influencer Osunde wrapped her arms around him and they motored across the desert.

The old adage states that a happy fighter is a dangerous one. Joshua had looked back to his destructive best against Ngannou, and it was easy to see why with Osunde watching on at ringside.

Joshua has arguably never looked better than in his last two fights, but he’s not resting on his laurels.

Dubois poses a sizeable threat and is on his own winning streak, meaning Joshua must be at the top of his game to dethrone him.

In the build-up to Saturday’s fight, Joshua has been undergoing ‘hot cupping’ treatment.

Hot cupping is said to relieve pain and inflammation by increasing blood flow, allowing Joshua to stay fighting fit.

He is almost eight years older than Dubois and a longer fight could favour the younger, fresher man, but Joshua is determined to keep himself in tip-top condition so that he’s ready to go the full 12 rounds if necessary.

Joshua has also gone viral after being filmed doing a back stretch that sees him lifted onto the back of another man, which would leave most people unable to walk for days.

Explaining the logic behind the mind-boggling stretch, Joshua told Sky Sports: I was in Texas training and this guy is like a gymnast. He helps a lot of NFL players and this stretch is mad.

‘It feels good, though. It’s a really good stretch, flexibility is important for recovery. It’s something unusual, but it works.

Joshua is willing to push his body to the limit to get into incredible physical condition, but he believes it is his mental strength that will be his main weapon on Saturday night.

In an interview with The Times, Joshua said: ‘This is the thing with fighting — it takes more than being strong to be a champion and to be a complete fighter.

‘It’s good, of course, but I truly believe from what I’ve studied, read and from what great people who have come before me have said — that it takes more than being a physical specimen.

Joshua is not resting on his laurels and has turned to ‘hot cupping’ ahead of his fight with Dubois

Hot cupping relieves pain and inflammation to keep athletes in top condition

Joshua looks to have found happiness again and can completed his turnaround by beating Dubois this weekend

‘When you come across someone and you’ve given them your best shot and they are able to take it, that’s when you figure out what it takes to be a champion.

‘That’s what I’ve done. I’ve been to the well. He’s fighting someone who is willing to die in there, who wants to give everything to be victorious.’

Joshua has been through it all. The highs of becoming a world champion in just his 16th professional fight, then beating the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Joseph Parker and Alexander Povetkin in huge stadium fights, but also the lows of his shock defeat by Andy Ruiz Jr and losing to Usyk twice.

Those setbacks against Usyk threatened to end his career, but now he is looking to regain his crown.

Joshua will enter the lion’s den in front of 96,000 fans at Wembley on Saturday, and he’s ready to roar once more.