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British boxing superstar Anthony Joshua is shooting for history when he takes on IBF heavyweight champion and countryman Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium on September 21. The 12-round bout, plus undercard action, will be broadcast by DAZN.
WATCH: Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois, live on DAZN
Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) is a former two-time unified heavyweight champion and one of the best fighters in the glamour division. From April 2016 until March 2018, “AJ” collected belts from Charles Martin (IBF), Wladimir Klitschko (WBA) and Joseph Parker (WBO).
In June 2019, the former Olympic champ suffered a crushing stoppage loss to snow-white underdog Andy Ruiz in New York. However, eight months later, Joshua evened the score with a thoroughly dominant points win to become a two-time heavyweight champion.
“The first time was so nice, I had to do it twice,” bellowed Joshua following the Ruiz rematch. Now, almost five years on, the 34-year-old Englishman has crosshairs locked on joining four Hall of Famers who became three-time heavyweight champions.
The Sporting News remembers the triple winners that AJ would join should he prevail against Daniel Dubois.
Muhammad Ali
- Record: 56-5 (37 KOs)
Muhammad Ali came along before sanctioning organizations. “The Greatest” dethroned Sonny Liston to become the heavyweight champion of the world in February 1964 and made nine defenses before being stripped of the crown for refusing induction into the U.S. armed forces, which were then engaged in the Vietnam War.
In October 1974, Ali became the second man in boxing history to regain the championship — the first was Floyd Patterson — when he knocked out George Foreman in eight rounds to win “The Rumble in the Jungle”. Another nine defenses followed before Ali was shockingly upset by Leon Spinks in February 1978.
Seven months later, Ali regained the WBA and Ring Magazine titles when he outpointed Spinks in New Orleans. It should be pointed out that Ali is the only fighter in heavyweight history to win the lineal championship on three occasions.
MORE: Evander Holyfield’s sweetest victory
Evander Holyfield
- Record: 44-10-2 (29 KOs)
In November 1990, “The Real Deal” needed only three rounds to dispose of Mike Tyson’s conqueror Buster Douglas to win the undisputed championship. Three defenses followed before Holyfield was outpointed by friendly rival Riddick Bowe in a classic encounter in November 1992.
One year later, Holyfield took revenge on Bowe to win back IBF and WBA championships, but he only held those titles for five months before being outpointed by southpaw Michael Moorer in April 1994. A premature retirement followed before Holyfield made the most miraculous of comebacks.
In November 1996, Holyfield turned back the years to vanquish then-WBA titleholder Mike Tyson via TKO 11 in Las Vegas. For an encore, he survived the infamous ear-biting episode with Tyson and added the IBF title with a revenge win over Moorer.
Lennox Lewis proved too much for Holyfield in 1999, but the legendary warrior became the only four-time heavyweight titleholder when he outpointed John Ruiz for the WBA crown in April 2000.
Michael Moorer
- Record: 52-4-1 (40 KOs)
Moorer was a fearsome light heavyweight who defended the WBO 175-pound title nine times in less than two years, knocking out every opponent he faced. The brooding New Yorker then bypassed cruiserweight and moved straight to heavyweight.
In May 1992, Moorer claimed the inaugural WBO heavyweight title by prevailing in a five-round war against “Smokin'” Bert Cooper. He would vacate that title immediately and target bigger game, triumphing over IBF and WBA heavyweight king Evander Holyfield in April 1994.
A shocking knockout defeat to George Foreman in November of that year was difficult to swallow, but Moorer wasn’t done. In June 1996, the hard-hitting lefty picked up the vacant IBF title by outpointing Axel Schultz in what was a huge event in Germany. He made two defenses before losing by TKO to Holyfield.
Moorer was the first southpaw fighter to win the heavyweight championship of the world.
MORE: SN’s Top 12 best heavyweight boxers
Lennox Lewis
- Record: 41-2-1 (32 KOs)
Like Ali before him, Lewis was an Olympic gold medalist who had a mission to become the heavyweight champion of the world.
Avoided by heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe, the man he’d conquered in the super heavyweight final at the Seoul Games in 1988, Lewis won his first title without throwing a punch. On the strength of his devastating second-round knockout of Razor Ruddock in an eliminator in October 1992, Lewis was upgraded to full WBC champion.
A shocking knockout loss to Oliver McCall in his fourth defense ended Lewis’ first reign, but the giant Brit was just getting started. After teaming up with acclaimed coach Emanuel Steward, who had orchestrated his defeat to McCall, Lewis became a much more effective fighter.
He avenged his loss to McCall in February 1997, regaining the WBC crown when the American suffered a mental breakdown in the ring. Two and a half years later, Lewis outpointed Evander Holyfield to become the undisputed heavyweight champion.
The hard-hitting Londoner was spectacularly knocked out by Hasim Rahman in a seismic upset in April 2001 but returned the favor with an even better finish in the direct rematch, which made Lewis a three-time heavyweight champion.