Alas, Usyk’s rematch with Fury meant he wasn’t going to have a rematch with Dubois. You see, Dubois’s technical knockout win over Filip Hrgovic earlier this year made him the IBF’s interim titleholder and therefore Usyk’s mandatory. When Usyk parted ways with the IBF title — he’s still the lineal champ and a unified three-belt titleholder — Dubois was elevated by the sanctioning body.

That means Joshua will be the challenger when he and Dubois meet September 21 at Wembley Stadium in London. Their pay-per-view will be available via DAZN and PPV.com.

Joshua previously owned the IBF, WBA and WBO titles when he lost shockingly via technical knockout to Andy Ruiz in June 2019. He regained them in a rematch that December, but had to hand them over again, this time following a defeat to Usyk via unanimous decision in September 2021. Joshua came up short once more with Usyk in their 2022 rematch but has won four straight since. He is 28-3 (25 KOs).

Dubois, meanwhile, has also been forced to rebuild twice. He was ahead on two of three scorecards against Joe Joyce in November 2020 but took a 10 count while suffering from a fractured eye socket. After four wins, Dubois challenged Usyk in August 2023. That fight created a debate about whether a shot Dubois landed, downing Usyk, was a legal blow on the beltline or an accidental foul that veered low. Usyk wound up stopping Dubois in the ninth. 

Dubois returned in December 2023 with a stoppage of Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller in the final seconds of the final round, then stopped Hrgovic in June.

“As you know, I was in a dark place and I was going through some stuff, but I feel like I've been resurrected now,” Dubois said during a recent face-off interview with DAZN alongside Joshua and both of their promoters. “I’m in the light again and I’m ready to fight. He’s been the king for a while. He’s been the king for a long time, in fact. But you know what: I feel like it’s my time. I’m a king slayer, and I’ve got to do that again.”

We’ll acknowledge Dubois’ Game of Thrones reference, intentional or unintentional. And then we’ll move on to one of our own: One person quite confident that Dubois’ reign will continue is his hand of the king, promoter Frank Warren.

“He’s the young guy. I think he’s matured. And over the last few years, he’s had some great experience, and it’s all gelling for him,” Warren said. “He’s had two really good performances in his last two fights, against fighters who had come to fight, strong guys. One of the fighters was an avoided fighter in Hrgovic. In the trade, everybody was saying he was one of the best heavyweight out there, and he broke Hrgovic’s heart.

“He is hungry,” Warren added later on in the interview. “He can fight. I would never have any doubt in his ability. He can jab. He can punch. He’s got good movement. He’s fast. The only thing about it is he’s in his head. In his last two fights, he’s shown what he’s got. He’s had to dig deep. And he’s pulled it out of the bag and done it in great style. No question mark about it. He done it against world-class fighters.” 

Follow David Greisman on Twitter @FightingWords2. His book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.