Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois now 'in talks' for September 21 at Wembley Stadium, reveals Frank Warren

03/06/2024 11:21

Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois is now in the works for an all-British heavyweight clash on September 21 at Wembley Stadium.

Prior to Saturday night’s Queensberry-Matchroom 5 vs 5 card, it had been made clear by Saudi boxing chief HE Turki Alalshikh that AJ’s next opponent would likely emerge from the event.

Deontay Wilder was the ideal first choice, but he was beaten by Zhilei Zhang in devastating fashion.

As a result, the next best pick for Joshua was the winner of the other heavyweight fight on the card.

Dubois weathered a storm to stop Hrgovic on cuts and claim the IBF ‘interim’ belt, which may soon be upgraded to become the full IBF heavyweight world title.

This will depend on the IBF’s ruling over Oleksandr Usyk’s request for an exception to allow him to hold onto the belt for the Tyson Fury rematch on December 21, rather than face his mandatory challenger next.

Either way, the victory placed Dubois as the best contender for a shot at Joshua, and his promoter Frank Warren told talkSPORT on Monday morning that this fight is now being discussed.

“Daniel Dubois proved all his doubters wrong and won the IBF ‘interim’ belt,” Warren said on talkSPORT Breakfast.

“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.

“AJ 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.”

Dubois has already lost twice in his young career, to Oleksandr Usyk and Joe Joyce, and many fans questioned his heart following these setbacks.

However, he’s now battled through adversity to beat Kevin Lerena, Jarrell Miller and Hrgovic.

“He had a good win last time out against Miller where had to dig deep,” Warren continued, “And he had to dig deep in this fight.

“The first couple of rounds, it took him a couple of rounds to get into it.

“But once he got his jab going, he took command and dominated the fight.

“He busted him up badly and he [Hrgovic] was very lucky to survive the round before it got stopped.

“It looked like he was gonna be knocked out and then the bell saved him.

“But look, he’s there now, he’s 26 – there’s only two heavyweights in the top 12 under the age of 30 at the moment and he’s one of them.

“So the next generation are coming through.

“Him and AJ is gonna be a magnificent fight because they’re both big, big punchers.”