'That first Usyk fight is behind me - I'm a man of the future'

The big interview Daniel Dubois The IBF champion on flying under the radar, Oleksandr Usyk's weaknesses, and his hunger to become one of the all-time greats

- Donald McRae

It's definitely the biggest fight of my life," Daniel Dubois says of his world heavyweight title unification bout against Oleksandr Usyk at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night before, following a slightly deflated pause, he highlights a downbeat buildup. "It's strange but it feels like it's been going under the cover, like it hasn't been really hyped-up as I would have thought a unification fight will be. But maybe that will pick up on the night."

Sitting outside his gym in Borehamwood, with the Wembley arch clearly visible through the haze, Dubois looks a little hurt when I ask if he can explain why there has been such limited fanfare around an interesting rematch between two heavyweights who own all the world titles between them. "I'm not sure," Dubois says in his role as the IBF champion. "It seems as if every fight I'm in, there seems to be a little bit of funniness going on. I can't quite put my finger on why."

Dubois still lives with his formidable and mysterious father. He is 27 and a wrecking force in the ring, as he proved when knocking down Anthony Joshua four times during a one-sided beating last September, but Dubois often appears more like a shy teenager who is still tentative beneath the giant shadow of his domineering dad, Stan. Could it be that Dubois is simply too quiet to generate outrageous headlines?

"I don't know, mate," he says, before comparing himself with Joshua. "AJ don't trash-talk really, either. Every fight he's doing sells out and it's all big hyper stuff. But with my fights it always seems to be something."

Dubois trails away before he returns with a more defiant response. "But, after this fight, I want to clear up and move forward as a legit world champion. The undisputed world champion."