British heavyweight Daniel Dubois is eager to produce a “devastating” performance on his London return but admits a rematch with Joe Joyce remains in his sights.
The 25-year-old will be in action against Kevin Lerena on the undercard of Tyson Fury and Derek Chisora’s world title fight at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
Dubois has impressively rebuilt his career since defeat to Joyce in 2020, where the young prospect took a knee and allowed himself to be counted out in the 10th round of their Church House contest in Westminster due to a grotesquely swollen left eye.
Despite taking a barrage of criticism for ‘quitting’ from current and former fighters, it was later revealed that Dubois (18-1, 17KOs) had suffered a broken orbital bone and nerve damage around his eye in addition to retinal bleeding.
A period of rest allowed the injury to heal and Dubois has largely spent the past two years out of the domestic spotlight with recent victories over Joe Cusumano and Trevor Bryan achieved in Cleveland and Miami respectively but he is looking forward to this weekend’s homecoming.
“That is always going to be on my mind, a fight with Joe but let’s get Saturday out of the way before we start looking too far ahead but it is exciting,” Dubois told the PA news agency.
“I am raring to go and really buzzing. I think it will be electric on Saturday, so I can’t wait to get out there and fight.
“We have been a while on the road and now it is time to bring the show back home. The venue looks amazing, it is like an old time coliseum, so we will go out there, handle business and I am looking forward to it.”
Dubois beat Bryan in June with the 17th knockout win of his career to put himself in contention for a world title shot with the Londoner the mandatory challenger for Oleksandr Usyk’s WBA belt.
If no unification clash can be set up between Fury and Usyk in the opening months of 2023, it could be Dubois that takes on the Ukrainian instead of the elder statesman in the Frank Warren stable.
Fury has also namechecked his fellow Briton as a potential future opponent but Dubois knows he must see off South African southpaw Lerena first and remind the domestic scene why he quickly built up such a revered reputation.
He added: “Yeah, definitely (I would fight Fury). We are with the same promoter so it is an easy fight to make.
I am raring to go and really buzzing. I think it will be electric on Saturday, so I can't wait to get out there and fight— Daniel Dubois
“For 2023 I just want more fights, I guess. More shows, more fights and getting closer to winning the world title.
“I want to be challenging these top guys out there. If I can speed myself up and show I’m ready for them then the crowd will demand it, the public will demand it and that’s what I want.
“It has all been a learning experience, in and out of the ring. It was cool seeing Don King, cool going to Miami and winning the (WBA regular) belt but now we’re back home and this is where it is at.
“This is only the start of my career in my eyes. I am looking from here on to stay undefeated and keep putting on devastating performances.”
