When Daniel Dubois turned professional and daydreamed of the journey ahead, he probably visualised fighting Anthony Joshua for the world title at a sold-out Wembley Stadium.
His victorious debut lasted all of 35 seconds and came in April 2017, the same month Joshua stopped Wladimir Klitschko at England's national stadium in 11 pulsating rounds to unify titles and send his career stratospheric.
Dubois was 19, and what he could not have foreseen back then was just how difficult his path would be, the setbacks and stinging criticism he’d face before ultimately securing his dream fight.
This Saturday, he takes on his older, more famous, experienced and celebrated countryman at Wembley with a version of the world title on the line.
Ironically, it is Dubois who holds the IBF gold, with him being elevated after unified champion Oleksandr Usyk was stripped for pursuing a rematch against Tyson Fury.
Having not won the belt in the ring, Dubois admits he needs victory this weekend to legitimise his status.
He might also feel he needs it to offer a final rebuke to the doubters – those who have labelled him a quitter and questioned his heart, toughness and desire to reach the top.
"I'm the underdog because I have to prove myself and beating him and winning this next fight will set me as a legit champion. I'm raring to go. This is everything. The big opportunity,” said Dubois.
“I would’ve loved to win [the official IBF title] on the night of my last fight, but here we are. I’m grateful, I’m blessed. AJ’s been the king for a very long time; on the night, I need to become a kingslayer.”
Dubois is one of 11 children fathered by an eccentric former market trader who says God told him to have children and get them into boxing. Dubois’ sister Caroline is a world-class lightweight, while some of his other siblings also box. Dubois senior feels his son’s ascent to the pinnacle of the sport is a matter of destiny.
"I told his grandmother and his mother he was going to be a world champion when he was in the womb. I had to wait around patiently for him to start walking and talking. And then I started training him,” his father Stan told The Times this week.
The faith of his promoter Frank Warren has been similarly evangelical. “I’d put him in with AJ right now,” Warren would often say as Dubois clobbered his way through the British and European ranks.
Rumours of a teenaged Dubois doing damage to Joshua in sparring also did the rounds, while those who have trained both have said it is the younger man who is the naturally heavier handed of the two.
However, there’s no doubt that hubris played a part when the first major setback of Dubois' career left his face broken and his reputation in tatters.
Warren’s confidence in his man saw him paired with Queensbury’s other top heavyweight at the time, the Olympic silver medallist Joe Joyce, who jabbed Dubois into submission at a deserted Church House in London at the height of the pandemic.
Warren had called the bout the “biggest risk of my career” and it backfired spectacularly as Dubois suffered a broken left orbital bone, nerve damage and faced a barrage of criticism from within the industry for taking a knee to avoid further punishment.
"I understand what [the critics] said but he was in pain and had already been fighting three rounds with his eye totally closed," Warren said in defence of Dubois.
"Daniel had been telling his corner in between rounds that every time he got caught there it was excruciating and if he had fought on it could have got worse. They would've pulled him out at the end of the round anyway."
Matters weren’t helped when he was subsequently floored three times by the lightly-regarded former cruiserweight Kevin Lerena. Dubois was carrying an injury and still won by stoppage but it added to the perception that he is fragile.
Then came the first big opportunity of his career – a shot at unified champion Usyk in Poland last year. Dubois believed he had shocked the world when he folded Usyk with a body shot in the fifth only for it to be called low and the Ukrainian given time to recover. A frustrated Dubois then quickly unravelled with him again accused of quitting when, fatigued and exasperated, he was finished by a jab in the ninth.
As you might expect, the line from his camp was all about how he'd been cheated, rather than his alarming collapse under pressure in Wroclaw.
The turning point proved to be a masterful piece of matchmaking when he was paired with the American Jarrell Miller last December. The brash Miller is not a concussive puncher but is relentless and smothering – the perfect opponent to force Dubois to face his demons and emerge the other side.
That’s exactly how it transpired as he weathered the storm and became the first person to stop Miller with a late barrage in the 10th.
Proof of how transformational that win had been came quickly as Dubois survived another early onslaught from Filip Hrgovic before outlasting him to set up this weekend's bout with Joshua.
One of his most vocal critics has been his fellow British heavyweight Derek Chisora, but the veteran believes Dubois is now a different proposition.
"That was then, this is now," said Chisora. "Look at his last fight with Hrgovic ... Hrgovic hit him with straight right hands and he carried on going. He won the fight. Baby Miller was a scrap but he got so tired he was about to quit but he did not quit.
"So, what I'm trying to say to you is the guy who boxed Joe Joyce and Oleksandr Usyk is not that guy any more. He quit, but I don't think the guy we're looking at now is going to quit at Wembley, I don't think so."
And, after years of having his fortitude questioned, Dubois says there would be nothing sweeter for him than flipping the script on the biggest night of his life.
"I'm turning it round now at this stage of my career. I've come through my ups and downs, just turning it round,” he said. "Enjoy the moment, let all the talking be done, let all the statements be made. I'm in a good place right now and I'm ready to fight.
"I've got to make him quit, break him down," he added. "That's my mindset going into this. Making him quit, breaking him. I believe I can do it.”
