The Daniel Dubois vs Anthony Joshua rematch will be on the backburner for a while, according to Frank Warren.
Dubois blasted Joshua out inside five rounds in September at Wembley Stadium to retain his IBF heavyweight title and then entered into talks with his fellow countryman over an immediate rematch.
However, those negotiations have since come to a grinding halt.
Dubois is set to return to the ring on February 22, which Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn insists is too tight of a turnaround for his client.
According to Hearn, Joshua is still nursing some ‘niggles’ from his inaugural encounter with Dubois and won’t be ready to fight again until May or June.
As a result, Dubois’ representatives have begun talking to other potential opponents, with Joseph Parker said to be at the top of the pile.
IBF president Daryl Peoples confirmed earlier this month that Dubois can make an optional defence of his title against any ranked fighter before April 22′.
After which, he will have to face his mandatory which is being decided by a final eliminator bout between Martin Bakole and Agit Kabayel.
The purse bids for that fight have been pushed back until today and it could logically be scheduled for the February 22 card if everything goes to plan.
Whoever emerges victorious from that fight will likely fight Dubois in the second half of next year, while Joshua is also expected to fight somebody else around the same time.
As a result, it is unlikely the Dubois vs Joshua rematch will happen in 2025, if ever, as Warren pointed out on talkSPORT on Thursday afternoon.
“First of all, the fight Daniel had against AJ was his mandatory so he is allowed a period of time, which means he can fight in February and he’s allowed up until April or May [to make a voluntary defence],” Warren told talkSPORT’s White and Jordan show.
“And then whoever the mandatory is, that is who it will be [for the fight after].
“It won’t be AJ because he can’t get himself into a mandatory position because they have called for the next two guys to fight each other (Kabayel and Bakole).
“So he’s out of the picture and he will be out of the picture for a while.”
Zhilei Zhang, Frank Sanchez, Efe Ajagba, Filip Hrgovic, Derek Chisora, Fabio Wardley, Otto Wallin, Jared Anderson, Guido Vianello and Justis Huni are all ranked inside the IBF top 15 and could be picked as potential opponents for Dubois while Bakole and Kabayel duke it out in their eliminator.
However, Bakole’s manager and trainer Billy Nelson insists they are ready to take on ‘Triple D’ in February if it comes down to it.
“He’s looking for an opponent in February, we will take that fight in a heartbeat now,” Nelson told talkSPORT.
“We will sign that today, no problem. I know Frank Warren has been shouting about side bets recently, we will have a bet with him on that fight.
“We’ll bet £200,000 that he’s throwing about, we will have a bet no problem.”
Responding to Nelson, Warren said: “If he beats Kabayel, then he’s in there, and we’ll see what happens in that fight.
“That fight has been put up by the IBF, whose belt Daniel holds. We’ll see what happens. If he wants to bet on the night, I’ll gladly accommodate him.”
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