ANTHONY JOSHUA has finally had his say on THAT infamous spar with Daniel Dubois.
The build-up to the pair’s Wembley war later this month has been dominated by rumours of what happened in one of their sparring sessions at the GB Performance Institute in Sheffield in 2016.
It’s been claimed over the years that Dubois, who at the time was a fresh-faced 18-year-old, nearly knocked out the former two-time unified heavyweight champion.
Dubois has inadvertently fuelled the rumours by refusing to shed light on his time in the ring with AJ, who has grown tired of the “narrative” being painted ahead of their domestic dust-up.
Recalling the spar in question, Joshua told Sky Sports: “He just cracked me with a good shot. I stood on my feet.
“I don’t know where this whole narrative of someone turned my lights off came from.
“There were a lot of people in the gym that day as well.
“And people have come out and said, ‘Nah, nothing [happened].
“But anyway, people say what they say.”
Joshua, 34, isn’t surprised that conflicting tales have emerged from his gym war with the IBF heavyweight champion.
He said: “With me, there’s always been like an inch that makes a mile. But it’s all good. It’s all good.”
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Joshua and Dubois enter their showdown at the home of English football at the peak of respective career resurgences.
AJ has bounced back from the brink of divisional irrelevance with four wins on the spins, including a brutal KO of former UFC champion Francis Ngannou.
Dubois, meanwhile, has recovered from a disappointing display against Oleksandr Usyk with back-to-back stoppage wins over Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic.
And the 26-year-old is on a mission to become the new face of British heavyweight boxing.
He said: “AJ’s been the king for a long time and on the night, I need to become a king slayer.
“And that’s my goal, that’s the mission at hand.
“I’m learning more about myself as a fighter, as a person, coming out of the darkness and into the light, improving all around as a fighter and as an athlete.
“I’m up for this and ready to go.”
Joshua, however, insists he won’t let Dubois dethrone him as the poster boy of British boxing.
He said: “I’m not saying that he has the chance to do it on September 21 because what you speak is sometimes what comes into existence.
“But I won’t let it happen, I’ll show you how good am.
“Whether it’s in the ring sparring or whether it’s in the ring fighting, I won’t let anyone manhandle me or try to knock me out. No way.”
