Daniel Dubois has three obvious options next after flattening Anthony Joshua
The IBF heavyweight world champion has a fourth wildcard path after a stunning display at Wembley Stadium on Saturday
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Your support makes all the difference.After Daniel Dubois turned the heavyweight division upside down on Saturday night with his emphatic knockout of Anthony Joshua, you could sense a shift in power.
Both inside the ring as he bludgeoned his way to victory and, crucially, outside of it. The IBF world champion now has the luxury of mapping out his future on his terms, even if Eddie Hearn emphasised some kind of rematch clause for Joshua exists.
Despite being elevated to champion before battling ‘AJ’ at Wembley Stadium, Dubois conceded much of the limelight to his more illustrious rival. ‘Dynamite’ Dubois walked first, for example, and was forced to soak in Joshua’s elongated march.
Dubois is now “the hottest property now in boxing,” according to promoter Frank Warren after his fighter secured redemption, before adding that his fighter “will go where the money is.”
There is no rush, of course, with unified world champion Oleksandr Usyk rematching Tyson Fury in December. But as things stand there are three obvious options and a wildcard, which Team Dubois should be able to swerve if they prefer, given Warren’s remarks about money.
Anthony Joshua
The obvious option, at least financially, with Dubois holding the trump card and able to offer the quickest route back into contention for Joshua. ‘AJ’ will be desperate to surge back into contention and justify a future crack at Usyk or Fury, meaning the dangerous prospect of back-to-back crushing knockouts.
“I think he [Joshua] will exercise that rematch clause, I think that’s a given,” Hearn said in the ring afterwards, before clarifying his comments.
“We have another fight with Riyadh Season and Turki Alalshikh and Daniel Dubois is part of that plan, but so too could be Tyson Fury or another heavyweight.”
Warren dismissed any suggestion that Joshua and Hearn have complete control over a rematch, but admits it could happen: “They can have it if they want it anyway. I don’t have a problem with that.”
Selling it to the public, after such a chasm between the fighters on the night at least, could also prove a sticking point.
Oleksandr Usyk
This appears to be the priority for Dubois, having underlined his intention to continue “putting my wrongs right” following the Joshua fight, in a reference to his controversial loss to Usyk last 2023. Not only that, but a potential shot at becoming undisputed and elevating himself into the lofty company of the sport’s legends.
Usyk, 10 years older than Dubois, has shown little sign of fading, yet sooner or later Dubois’ youth and physical gifts could prove decisive in a rematch. Psychologically, too, Dubois may feel like he has an edge now, given Usyk’s stance over a low blow and the decision to accept the extended mid-fight break to recover. Despite Dubois’ attritional demise in the rounds that followed, before being stopped in the ninth, the debatable shot that dropped the Ukrainian could prove a compelling tool to market the rematch.
Tyson Fury
Should Fury defeat Usyk in their rematch in December, a compelling option will develop for Dubois. The prospect of a shot at undisputed. That, of course, does not rest solely on Fury, either, given one of the four bodies may insist on a mandatory defence to scupper the opportunity for both men to secure immortality in the division.
Yet Fury, unlike Warren, who was more cautious over matching two of his fighters, is keen. “I’ve got to fight my man [Usyk], the rabbit, I’ll take all my belts back once again, guarantee you,” Fury told reporters at Wembley Stadium. “I’ll get that [Dubois’ IBF title], too, when I fight Usyk in December, win the belts I should never have lost, then I’ll fight Dubois and take that off him as well.”
The wildcard option: Agit Kabayel, Zhilei Zhang or Joseph Parker?
There is of course one more option, a wildcard if you will. Dubois could simply revel in the limelight, admittedly for much less money. But he could indeed play the rankings and enjoy dictating the terms next time, headlining a show himself in what might be a strategic move to catch Usyk or Fury even further away from their peaks towards the middle of 2025.
The IBF is yet to update its rankings following the Joshua v Dubois fight, with the No.1 and No.2 spots currently vacant. Yet German Agit Kabayel is fourth, one place behind Joshua, who is likely to drop down the order. Martin Bakole and Zhilei Zhang, the Chinese fighter who has already called out Dubois, are next in the queue with the IBF. While Joseph Parker is also in the conversation with Dubois positioned behind Usyk and Fury in the consensus rankings.
A meeting with the New Zealander would present a clash between perhaps the two in-form fighters behind Usyk and make one of them a worthy contender to the Ukrainian.
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