Joshua bids to emulate Muhammad Ali as 3-time heavyweight champ by beating Dubois in front of 95,000

Muhammad Ali. Evander Holyfield. Lennox Lewis.

Three boxers from an elite club of heavyweight greats to have been three-time world champions.

Anthony Joshua can put his name on that exclusive list by disposing of a British rival who sees himself as the future of the sport’s marquee category.

He can do it on quite the stage, too.

Joshua, a darling of British boxing ever since winning Olympic gold at the London Games in 2012, is looking to complete his late-career rebuild by beating Daniel Dubois to reclaim the IBF belt in front of around 96,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday.

It is one of the biggest crowds for any British sporting event — and that’s something Joshua is used to after selling out the UK’s biggest stadia for years. Indeed, it was at Wembley where he produced his greatest performance in defeating Wladimir Klitschko in epic fashion in 2017 to become a two-belt world champ.

As for the 27-year-old Dubois, a somewhat accidental world champion after taking the IBF crown vacated by Oleksandr Usyk, this is fairly new territory. It’s his first title defense and second world championship fight — Joshua has had 12 of them, of which 10 have been for unified titles — as he looks to establish his name atop the heavyweight scene.

A win for Dubois (21-2, with 20 KOs) and it will be seen as a definitive changing of the guard. The pretender will then be the big man in town, with huge riches in the offing in potential future fights against Usyk or Tyson Fury, who meet in a rematch on Dec. 21 in Saudi Arabia for Usyk’s WBA, WBC and IBO heavyweight belts.

For Joshua (28-3, with 25 KOs), it would mean climbing the mountain once again — or even hanging up his gloves.

“I’ve been to the well,” Joshua said. “Dan’s fighting someone who is willing to die in there.”

The 34-year-old from Watford, just outside London, faced a career reset after losing back-to-back fights against Usyk, soon after his first pro defeat — a shocker to Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2019.

Joshua got rid of his long-time trainer, set up camps in the U.S. instead of England, and tried to change his strategy. He had lost twice to Usyk, a smaller man, and it made him realize boxing is as much about skill and ring craft as power and brutality.

The rebuild has seen him win four straight fights — against Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin and then former UFC champion Francis Ngannou — and each performance has been better than the last.

His devastating punching power is still there, too. Just ask Ngannou, who was knocked out cold in the second round with an unblocked right hand.

Questions are still being asked of Joshua, however. Does he belong back in the first tier of the heavyweights? Will that long-awaited fight with Fury — trailed for almost a decade now — ever happen?

“Everything I’ve done in the past, we have to draw a line (through) because I can’t take that with me on Saturday night,” Joshua said. “In that moment, that’s all that matters.”

Dubois, nicknamed “Dynamite,” told The Associated Press this week he is looking to legitimize his status as the newest world heavyweight champion with what would be the biggest win of his career. He only gained the IBF belt in late-June after Usyk relinquished it, to no longer be undisputed champ.

“I need to show them on the night what I’m all about and then make the world respect me,” Dubois told the AP, “and make them put some respect to my name.”

Joshua is a bigger puncher and Dubois’ reputation might still be wounded after he took a knee and was counted out against another Brit, Joe Joyce, in 2020 for his first loss.

Dubois’ loss to Usyk in Wroclaw, Poland, is his only experience of big-time boxing and he said it made him grow “from a boy to a man.”

Joshua made that leap a long time ago and quickly became a national treasure, unbeaten for his first six years as a pro — three of them as a world champion — and establish an aura of invincibility.

After a chastening few years, he can reach those heights again on Saturday when the challenger, unusually, will start as the favorite.

AP Sports Writer Ken Maguire contributed to this story.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

British boxer Daniel Dubois arrives at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, London, Tuesday Sept.17, 2024. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)

British boxer Daniel Dubois arrives at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, London, Tuesday Sept.17, 2024. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)

FILE - Britain's Daniel Dubois, left, and Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk during their world heavyweight title fight at Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw, Poland, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, file)

British boxer Anthony Joshua arrives at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, London, Tuesday Sept.17, 2024. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)

FILE - British former world champion Anthony Joshua, right, and MMA fighter Francis Ngannou fight during the heavyweight boxing showdown at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, March 9, 2024. (AP Photo, file)

British boxer Anthony Joshua arrives at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, London, Tuesday Sept.17, 2024. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian police on Thursday detained the CEO and other top leaders of an Islamic business group that is under investigation after hundreds of children believed to be sexually abused were rescued this month from welfare homes linked to the group.

National police chief Razarudin Husain said 12 men and seven women were detained following a police raid on a condominium in Kuala Lumpur. They ranged in age from 25 to 65.

Nasiruddin Mohamad Ali, CEO of Global Ikhwan Services and Business, and several members of GISB's advisory board were among those detained, Razarudin told The Associated Press. Others arrested on the list seen by AP included two of Nasiruddin's four wives and two of his children.

Some family members of the late Ashaari Mohamad, who headed the Islamic sect Al Arqam, which was deemed heretical and banned by the government in 1994, were also named on the list. Global Ikhwan was founded by Ashaari and flourished after his death in 2010.

Nasirudin earlier said in a video there may be cases of sodomy in GISB homes but denied any wrongdoing.

The arrests came after police rescued 402 children from 20 welfare homes linked to GISB on Sept. 11. Dozens of suspects were arrested in the case, which outraged the nation and sparked calls for better child protection and monitoring of childcare centers.

Razarudin has said some of the children, aged from 1 to 17, were believed sodomized by their guardians and taught to sexually abuse each other. He said they were denied medical treatment and burned with hot metal spoons as punishment for being disobedient. Medical screening has so far showed that at least 13 teens were sodomized and 172 children suffered long-term physical and emotional injuries, Razarudin said.

The children, whose parents are Global Ikhwan employees, were placed in the homes since they were infants and believed to be indoctrinated from a young age to be loyal to the group, police have said. The children were also believed to have been exploited to collect public donations.

Authorities have frozen 96 bank accounts linked to GISB, with a value of 581,000 ringgit ($137,000), as part of the investigation into sexual abuse, child neglect, human trafficking and money laundering.

GISB, which aims to promote an Islamic way of life, owns mini-markets, bakeries, restaurants, pharmacies, properties and other businesses abroad. It employs some 5,000 people. Global Ikhwan gained attention in 2011 when it formed an “Obedient Wives Club” that sparked controversy by teaching women to be “good sex workers” to keep their husbands from straying.

Apart from the criminal investigations, Islamic authorities are also checking on other homes and religious schools under GISB amid concerns it is promoting deviant teachings linked to Al Arqam.

On Thursday, three young men were charged with sexually assaulting young children in a religious school in southern Negeri Sembilan state. Razirudin said the trio were linked to GISB but gave no further details. Earlier this week, a businessman linked to GISB was charged with criminal intimidation for threatening a former GISB staff to withdraw a complaint to police.

Members of Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISBH), center in plain clothes, escorted by Royal Malaysian Police officers depart after a court appearance in Seremban, Malaysia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Members of Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISBH), center in plain clothes, escorted by Royal Malaysian Police officers depart after a court appearance in Seremban, Malaysia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

The headquarters of Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISBH) in Rawang is seen on the outskirts of Selangor state, Malaysia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)