Frank Bruno won the world heavyweight title on his fourth attempt at Wembley Stadium in 1995, forever cementing his status in British boxing history.

The big-punching fan-favourite faced the likes of Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis in his career and while he came up short against both, that unanimous decision win over Oliver McCall at the national stadium was the crowning moment of a solid career.

Another UK heavyweight who knows what it’s like to come up short at the very top level is Daniel Dubois, who has bounced back from losses to Joe Joyce and Oleksandr Usyk to now be a world champion.

In an interview with Queensberry Promotions late last year, Bruno named Dubois as the successor to carry the flag for British boxing.

“He’s a little bit shy with the cameras and whatever. He’s got a good sense of humour, he’s a good looking guy, he can punch like a mule. Once he’s matured I’d be very, very sorry for his opponents and I’d be very scared for his opponents because he’s still young and he’s got a lot of maturing to do. I think he’s the future of British boxing.”

Bruno has never been shy in his praise of Dubois, once writing just seven fights into his career that he had the potential to be ‘bigger than Anthony Joshua’ – no mean feat given what ‘AJ’ has achieved and added to the sport.

The ultimate test of his preparedness to be the torchbearer for the UK on the heavyweight scene is a fight with Joshua on September 21. The Wembley Stadium staged contest would be a perfect coming out party for the 26-year-old after he rebuilt from his first world title loss to Usyk with hard-fought wins over Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic.

This time it’s Dubois who enters the ring a champion having picked up the IBF belt when Usyk vacated. Joshua, not ready for a changing of the guard quite yet, is looking to become a three-time world champion.