ANTHONY JOSHUA versus Daniel Dubois on September 21 at Wembley stadium will be for the IBF heavyweight world title.
Oleksandr Usyk has revealed the red belt he won with back-to-back decision wins over AJ – and defended against Dubois and Tyson Fury – will be up for grabs.
GettyAnthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois will be for the IBF world heavyweight title[/caption]
GettyThe British stars will collide at Wembley Stadium on September 21[/caption]
Heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk leaked the fight ahead of his Tyson Fury rematch
The belt is the first world title 34-year-old Joshua won in 2016 when he dethroned Charles Martin.
And it will now be on the line again after 37-year-old Ukraine icon Usyk revealed he has either voluntarily surrendered the belt or been stripped of it.
The undisputed WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO boss – who just won a sensational war with Tyson Fury – revealed: “Anthony and Daniel, listen, I know the IBF title is important to you.
“It is my present to you for September 21. Glory to Ukraine.”
That means the December 21 rematch between Usyk and Fury will not be an undisputed rematch.
In May the little southpaw brought AJ’s old three versions to the table while the Gypsy King lost his much-loved WBC crown.
The plan now looks to be for the winner of AJ and 26-year-old Dubois to take on the winner of the Usyk versus Fury rematch.
And Fury – who was bravely allowed to continue after a round-nine pasting and was gifted a win on one judge’s scorecard for a split loss – bizarrely claims he will need a knockout to get a fair crack at Usyk second time around.
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He said: “I have to get him out of there because I won’t get a decision, which is unfortunate because it’s hard enough to win a fight, let alone winning it when you have yo knock someone out.
“But I am confident and looking forward to the challenge.
“It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be, the Usyk fight, a lot easier.
“People were saying he is a hard man to hit but I was lighting him up with three-and-four-punch combinations and laughing at him.
“My problem in that fight was that it was probably too easy.
“At times it was too easy, it was like I was in there with a local amateur boxer and I was enjoying it too much and messing around. And for that I paid the ultimate price in round nine when I had too much fun and got clipped.
“I was always told ‘never mix your work with having fun’ and I always gave my middle finger up to that – but now it has come back to bite me. I still enjoyed it, it was all good.
“I heard he has a broken jaw and a broken eye socket so I hope he gets himself well and I will see him again in December for a Christmas extravaganza in Saudi Arabia.”