Former Heavyweight Champion, Anthony Oluwafemi Joshua is set to go punch-to-punch against one of Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois in September.
However, the fight, scheduled for Wembley on 21st of September would only come to life if the IBF title is stripped off Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk defeated Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia on May 18 to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 24 years, but it was expected that the Ukrainian would have the IBF belt taken from him in no distant time.
The IBF title was billed to be on the line on Saturday, June 1, 2024, when mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic fought Daniel Dubois in Riyadh, but the IBF decided to create an interim belt for that fight.
The act by the IBF to create an interim belt allows Usyk to keep his official belt for the time being.
However, it is unclear whether the Ukrainian Champ will be stripped before his rematch with Fury in Riyadh on December 21.
Stripping Usyk means Hrgovic or Dubois will be upgraded to become the official champion. The board might also chose to upgrade the winner of Hrgovic/Dubois vs. Joshua instead.
Joshua is currently on a roll, with a resurgence that began soon after his second consecutive loss to Usyk in 2022: beating Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin, and Francis Ngannou.
Promoter, Eddie Hearn, in an interview said Joshua would fancy his chances against any of Usyk and Fury as he was present at the fight and witnessed it first-hand.
“Now he’s firing on every single cylinder that exists. So he’s watching that fight, thinking, ‘I’d love another crack at Usyk’. He’s thinking, ‘I’d love a fight with Fury, but he did say to me before that fight, ‘Usyk would win on points’ and he was right, in a great fight.”
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