Will British heavyweights Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua fight again early next year? There has been plenty of talk about the possibility of the two big punchers colliding in an immediate rematch, this after Dubois caused the sensation by knocking AJ out at Wembley last month. Now, as per a news story from Sky Sports, the folks at the IBF have set an April deadline for the rematch to take place.
Dubois now has a nine-month period in which he can make a voluntary defense of the IBF belt. Dubois, when he starched Joshua, was actually making a mandatory title defense, Dubois having won the vacant IBF title with a stoppage win over Filip Hrgovic back in June of this year. Now, should he wish to take a voluntary defense before his next mandatory defense – this to be against the winner of the upcoming Martin Bakole-Agit Kabayel fight – Dubois has until April 22 to do it.
It will prove interesting seeing which route Dubois chooses to go down. Dubois has said he is very much open to fighting Joshua a second time, with “Dynamite” obviously very confident he would defeat him again. And Joshua, according to his promoter Eddie Hearn, is almost desperate to fight Dubois again and try and redeem himself.
Dubois-Joshua II is a big fight and an interesting, almost certainly explosive rematch of a fight, but Dubois against either Bakole or Kabayel is also something to look forward to, and Dubois against either of these two contenders would be a fight that sees some young (ish) blood get a shot at becoming a champion.
As per the Sky Sports article, Dubois will be notified on April 22 of his next mandatory defense, which will have to take place by June 21. So, will Dubois look to fight Joshua again, feeling he would repeat his win and then, just a few months later, be able to fulfill his mandatory against the Kabyel-Bakole winner? There is talk of Dubois-Joshua II taking place in February, which would give Dubois four months to get ready for the Bakole-Kabayel winner.
It could be a busy year for Daniel Dubois in 2025. As for AJ, if he does fight Dubois again and is beaten again, where does the former two-time heavyweight champ go then?
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