In the heavyweight storm of myths, tears, excuses and shattered illusions there is increasingly less need for men to do the right thing, go against the wishes of their handlers and just fight each other.
On Saturday at the O2 one of the rarest beasts on the boxing reservation will be under the neon spotlight when two young, untested, unbeaten and ambitious boxers turn their backs on easy fights to meet for the vacant British heavyweight title.
Nathan Gorman is just 23, Daniel Dubois only 21 and they enter the rich history of British heavyweight title fights, where the finest boxers in the sport have won, lost, vanished forever and secured their futures; they are also the youngest pairing to ever meet for the ancient title. Their fight is yet another welcome link to a fading tradition, a tradition in peril, of boxers moving from early knock-over jobs to regional tests and then to British level.
“It was ordered by the Board (British Boxing Board of Control). I didn’t want them to take the fight - they wanted to take the fight,” said Frank Warren, who promotes the pair and could have easily guided them side-by-side in different ways, moving ever closer to the day when we all find out if either will reach the boxing promised land.
A British heavyweight title fight at this stage, at this age and in this time of seemingly unlimited glory for a big man that can fight, is a bold move. It is also a terrific fight, even if against a landscape of increasingly damned ambitions, hope and hype it remains a clash for salty purists; Gorman and Dubois refuse to swear, spit, toss furniture or curse the wombs of mothers.
“It’s just a fight - it’s what we both do. We are not circus acts,” said Gorman.
However, they also refuse to shake hands, a break in protocol that reveals a hidden intensity in both. It’s odd being in their company because they dislike each other immensely, but have no need to state the obvious and can share a table, a taxi or a lift without the threat of a hands-on scene.
Gorman and Dubois could have very easily missed this opportunity, secured equally remunerative fights, kept circling each other and then been thrown together in a year or after a loss or after one, in a sanctioned slaughter, had easily won the title.
This is not a fight destination reached because of blank alternatives, it’s a fight reached because of a desire from both to risk an awful lot in the type of fight that shines brighter than the hundreds of others that we are forced to believe count.
It is not the first time two unbeaten boxers have fought for the British heavyweight title, not the first time a future has been placed in such early jeopardy. Anthony Joshua had fought just 14 times when he stopped Dillian Whyte - unbeaten in 16 - in seven rounds back in 2015; Joshua went on and won and lost the world title, Whyte has been number one contender for the WBC version for nearly 600 days. Winning and losing never hurt that night and that was a risky fight at the time.
In 1991 Lennox Lewis, a slight betting underdog, was a 14-fight novice when he stopped Gary Mason in seven bloody, brutal and significant rounds. Mason was unbeaten in 35, suffered an eye injury and after the fight he lost his British licence; Lewis became a modern great.
That night at Wembley made Lewis, Mason had been denied an opening for too long and nobody present will ever forget the sacrifices of the two men. It was, this is often forgotten, a savage and draining fight for both, the type of early fight that can certainly take for eternity a bit of both the winner and the loser.
It made Lewis the fighter he became, but then again Lewis was not created equal and now, nearly 30 years later, we gaze back misty-eyed at the young genius we saw slugging it out that night.
It is often the awful invisible toll boxers pay in early showdowns, especially the baby giants in the ring, that makes Gorman and Dubois so fascinating. Dubois has stopped or knocked out 10 of the 11 men he has beaten and Gorman has done the same to 11 of his 16 opponents; Dubois has been ten rounds once, winning every round and not having to think, and Gorman has been the full twelve, also in a fight he dominated, dropping just one round.
They can both fight, box, move and punch, but can they do any combination of those essential heavyweight assets in a fight where they are not coasting to victory? They have fought 27 times, lost a total of two rounds, dropped anybody they have hit clean above the navel and on Saturday night they will suddenly be in a real fight. That is what makes this so special.
Last week I sat with the two boxers, a personal adjudicator to their simmering hate and told the pair that because they had no idea how to lose, had never needed to think defensively, the fight had real dangers for their futures. They each shrugged. “We will find out,” said Dubois, more of a warning than a statement. On Saturday night we will find out.
