LONDON (AP) — France defender Jean-Clair Todibo joined West Ham on a season-long loan from Nice on Saturday, completing a remodeled center-back partnership for the English club ahead of the start of the Premier League.
The deal for the 24-year-old Todibo, who played for Barcelona when aged 19, contains an option to make the transfer permanent for a reported 40 million euros ($43.6 million) in the offseason of 2025.
Max Kilman, another center back, has also joined West Ham in this window for around $50 million, along with Germany striker Niclas Füllkrug and four other players.
West Ham has a new coach in Julen Lopetegui, who has replaced David Moyes.
“It is a dream come true to play in the Premier League, the best league in the world," said Todibo, who had previously been linked with Manchester United and has played twice for France.
“This is an amazing opportunity for me, at a club with huge ambition, who want to really make progress under the new head coach."
West Ham's new sporting director, Tim Steidten, said the signing of Todibo showed the attraction of the club.
“He’s got proven pedigree in European football, especially in France, where he has shone in recent years, showing all of his qualities as one of the finest ball-playing center-halves in Ligue 1," Steidten said.
“There was huge interest from across Europe for his signature this summer."
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE - Nice's Jean-Clair Todibo, centre, in action during the French League One soccer match between Olympique de Marseille and Nice at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille, south of France, on April 24, 2024. France defender Jean-Clair Todibo has joined West Ham from Nice on a season-long loan to complete a remodeled center-back partnership for the English club ahead of the start of the Premier League. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
LONDON (AP) — Daniel Dubois didn't have to dethrone anyone to become a world heavyweight champion. So he has something to prove when he makes his first title defense before one of the biggest crowds in British boxing history.
If he successfully defends his IBF belt on Saturday by beating fellow Briton Anthony Joshua in front of 96,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, Dubois might just transform himself into boxing’s next big thing.
“I’m getting used to the idea that I’m the world champion but I think I need to legitimize it by beating AJ," Dubois told The Associated Press in an interview. “That’s the way I do it and cement my name, cement my legacy in the sport of boxing.”
The 27-year-old Dubois was awarded the belt in late June after then-undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine relinquished it.
He knows that most boxing fans — the British ones in particular — want to see Joshua become a three-time champion to set up a long-anticipated showdown with Tyson Fury.
But the hard-punching Dubois — a south London native who has been boxing since the age of 7 — has plans of his own.
“Make him quit, break him down, unleash hell on him,” Dubois said of his strategy for fight night.
Nicknamed “Dynamite,” the 6-foot-5 (1.95-meter) Dubois has had obstacles to overcome on his path to Wembley.
He hopes to make the 34-year-old Joshua quit but Dubois himself had to answer questions about quitting after he took a knee and was counted out in the 10th round against Joe Joyce on November 2020. That was his first professional loss.
Dubois' left eye had been swollen shut — there was an orbital bone fracture and nerve damage.
He bounced back by winning four straight bouts to earn a title shot at Usyk last summer. The fight was held in Poland, where many Ukrainians have taken refuge because of Russia's invasion of their country.
With huge support from his compatriots, Usyk stopped Dubois in the ninth round. Boxing is never far from controversy and this fight had its share: Dubois had dropped the champion in the fifth round but the referee ruled it a low blow and allowed Usyk several minutes to recover.
Since then, Dubois responded with two knockout victories. Despite being comfortably ahead of 333-pound Jarrell Miller, Dubois piled on the pressure in the final round, getting the stoppage in the final seconds of the bout. Dubois bloodied Filip Hrgovic early and stopped the Croatian in the eighth round.
The impressive win over Hrgovic in early June gave Dubois the “interim” title weeks before Usyk relinquished the belt. It also means 20 of his 21 wins have come via knockouts. The only time he went to points was six years ago in his eighth professional fight.
Back in 2017, it was then 27-year-old Joshua who spectacularly knocked out Wladimir Klitschko in a title fight at Wembley in front of 90,000 fans.
Dubois says it's his turn.
“This is my time now, and I’m ready to take it with both hands, show the world what I’m all about," he said, pointing to a Usyk rematch as his next goal even though the Ukrainian has talked about returning to cruiserweight after his Dec. 21 rematch with Tyson Fury.
He also wants to make his family proud. His father, Dave Dubois, raised 11 children in a household where sports and music dominated. Dubois says he doesn't play any instruments or sing though. His younger sister Caroline Dubois is also a successful pro boxer.
Officially, it’s the first time they’ll square off but Dubois and Joshua had a much-debated sparring session about a decade ago. It seems clear that Dubois caught Joshua — who two years earlier had won gold for Britain at the London Olympics — with a good punch, but beyond that it’s just rumors. Promoter Frank Warren has said that sparring session led him to sign Dubois.
“Sparring is sparring, this is a fight. It bears no relevance to today,” Dubois said. “It was good for me at the time, but I’m a new man, a new fighter now. I’ve put that behind me. I’m the man of the future.”
He suspects most of the crowd — and perhaps many of those watching on DAZN's streaming service — will be on AJ’s side.
“They probably will be overlooking me," he said. "It’s up to me to prove them wrong."
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
British boxer Anthony Joshua 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)
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 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)
