Daniel Dubois is looking forward to shaking off the ring rust when he faces former amateur star Erik Pfeifer at the BT Sport studios, Stratford, on August 29.
Approaching eight months out of the ring, Dubois jumped at the opportunity for a warm-up for his rearranged heavyweight showdown with Joe Joyce, which is now scheduled for the O2 Arena on October 24.
Meanwhile, Joyce (10-0, 9 KOs) will meet Pfeifer’s stablemate Michael Wallisch (20-3, 13 KOs) on July 25 in a non-title 10-rounder, where he will temporarily be without the services of trainer Ismael Salas.
“The delay until October for the fight against Joe has given me more time to get things right and the Pfeifer fight is a bonus,” said Dubois (14-0, 13 KOs). “It’s a shame that fans can’t attend, but I’m not moaning. A lot of fighters aren’t going to get work for months.
“Hopefully, Joe does the business on Wallisch and we give fans something to look forward when we finally meet later in October.
“It’s great to have an outing so I can blow away the cobwebs. When fight night comes it will have been more than [eight] months since my last contest. I’ve never had a lay-off that long since I started boxing.
“I want to deliver a big performance and then it will be all systems go to KO Joe in October.”
Russian-born Pfeifer (7-0, 5 KOs) represented Germany at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. He won a bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships, losing against Anthony Joshua in the semi-final before claiming another bronze medal two years later in the same competition.
Pfeifer also defeated Olympic champion Tony Yoka in the World Series of Boxing and claimed the super-heavyweight championship in AIBA Pro Boxing (APB), so he brings pedigree.
“Everyone knows how serious I am,” said Dubois. “Through lockdown I haven’t stopped training at home with my brother and sister. There was no messing.
“As soon as we were allowed to go into the gym, I was back with my trainer Martin Bowers, and being in a familiar environment makes things more comfortable.
“Frank Warren told me a while back there might be a chance of a fight on a TV studio show, and when the chance came I didn’t hesitate. Pfeifer has come along at relatively short notice, but we have more than enough time to prepare.”
