IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois was expected to rematch Anthony Joshua just a few months after their first fight but it seems as though ‘AJ’ will not be ready in time. Now, Warren has revealed further details regarding Dubois’ upcoming fight date.
Daniel Dubois shocked the world when he dramatically knocked out Anthony Joshua in September, making an authoritative first defence of his IBF world title and becoming a household name in the process.
Now a respected world champion, Dubois was heading into the immediate rematch with Joshua as a favourite this time around, but recent news that the latter was still suffering from injuries caused doubt as to whether the pair would meet again.
Speaking with BoxNation, Frank Warren has now confirmed that he cannot see the Joshua rematch taking place next, before adding that he expects to close on a deal for Dubois’ February outing as early as next week
“I don’t see that [Joshua rematch] happening next, so we are looking at a couple of things at the moment and we will make a decision. I was hoping that we could get it done fairly quickly, but we won’t be able to get it done fairly quickly.
“Sometime in the next week we have got to be in a position where we can close on something, and we are talking to a few other guys.
“I want him out on that date [February 22nd] and he wants to be out on that date.”
As far as alternate opponents go, Dubois had been linked to an in-house heavyweight battle between in-form countryman Fabio Wardley, who recently scored a viral first-round knockout win over Frazer Clarke.
However, Warren went on to admit that he believes the timing for that fight is not right and that the proposed domestic dust-up will be much bigger in a few fights’ time.
“I don’t see that [Fabio Wardley fight] happening next, I can’t see it being next.”
“For me, that fight could be built into something mega, there is no doubt about that.”
Instead, names such as Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang are being touted, as Dubois seeks to defend his crown for a second time and possibly tee-up a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight title.
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