Daniel Dubois scored a career-best win when he upset the odds to defeat Filip Hrgovic at the weekend, lining him up for a shot at Anthony Joshua and the expected-to-be vacant IBF world title. Just days after the victory, his promoter has confirmed that talks are underway, for what will be a third heavyweight title contest between two Britons in as many years.
Hrgovic and Dubois were poised to fight one another for the vacant IBF belt, but the sanctioning body are yet to strip Oleksandr Usyk of the title, which rendered Hrgovic-Dubois as a final eliminator. Instead, the winner was all but promised the opportunity to face Anthony Joshua at Wembley in a more lucrative proposal that ensures a mammoth payday.
It was the Croatian who started strongest, landing straight punches at will onto the 26-year-old Brit but once again Dubois proved that any doubts over his grit and heart are misplaced as he bit down on his shield to fight through the fire.
‘Triple D’ dealt Hrgovic with a sizeable cut and took the reigns of the contest with both hands during the mid-rounds, almost knocking his former sparring partner out at the end of the seventh-round, before the doctor waived off the bout in the eighth as Hrgovic’s cut worsened.
Deontay Wilder’s loss in the main-event appeared to remove any concerns that Dubois would not get the chance to fight Anthony Joshua – who was at ringside and Frank Warren told talkSPORT that the wheels are already in motion for the all-British heavyweight world title affair.
“Daniel Dubois proved all his doubters wrong and won the IBF ‘interim’ belt. He hopefully will be fighting AJ in the autumn, we’re working on that. He did well.
“We would love it to be in the UK, they’re two Brits, it would be a great fight to put on at Wembley. We do have a press conference later on this month, hopefully then we can make some announcements.
“Joshua was ringside and I was sitting next to him in fact. I said to him, ‘Right, come on, let’s get this on.’ We’ve got discussions going on so hopefully we can get it over the line.”
“Him and Joshua is gonna be a magnificent fight because they’re both big, big punchers.”
The date being touted is September 21st as ‘Joshua aims to become boxing’s fifth three-time heavyweight world champion and ensure he gets an opportunity to challenge for the winner of Fury-Usyk II for the undisputed title, whilst Dubois seeks to prove his worth as one of the division’s elite at just 26-years-old
As Warren mentions, all will be revealed at the launch press conference in London on June 25th, although it is understood that suspicions that Naoya Inoue could also appear on the card are wide of the mark, with Inoue instead expected to headline in Japan against T.J. Doheny, before facing Sam Goodman in December – possibly in Riyadh.
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