Former world heavyweight champion has suffered painful defeats but is eager to rewrite his legacy before retirement

‘I’m just ready to fight,” Anthony Joshua said earlier this month as he looked ahead to his bout against Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night. Dubois sat opposite Joshua at a table in a television studio and, replicating the often manufactured drama which pre-fight shows are meant to generate, he looked coolly at his more famous opponent and said: “Let’s go.”

His promoter Frank Warren, sitting alongside Dubois, smiled and added a little caveat to dilute the sudden intensity: “But let’s wait until the 21st.” Dubois, for once, ignored Warren and continued: “If he wants to swing, let’s go now.”