The Daniel Dubois vs Anthony Joshua rematch is dead in the water.
‘Triple D’ shocked the boxing world in September by flattening AJ in front of 98,000 fans at Wembley Stadium and was in talks with the Watford powerhouse over an immediate sequel.
However, negotiations have since tailed off.
Dubois is slated to return to the ring on February 22, which Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn claims is too tight of a turnaround for his client, who is still nursing some ‘niggles’ from their inaugural encounter.
As a result, Warren and Co. have moved on from the all-British clash and are now talking to other opponents.
Joseph Parker is thought to be the frontrunner while Fabio Wardley’s name was floated around for a stretch before Warren shut it down.
“Fabio asked for it, but I think it’s too early and I think it’s a fight certainly that we can build up and if we can do it, it could be a massive stadium fight,” he told assembled media.
One fight, he doesn’t think will be too early for his client though is a bout with Joshua.
“If AJ wants a fight, maybe fight Fabio,” added Warren.
The Ipswich puncher left a large dent in Frazer Clarke’s head last month after knocking out his fellow countryman to defend his British heavyweight title in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
His destructive performance earned him a top 10 spot in the Ring Magazine heavyweight rankings and he is now poised to take on a world-level opponent.
Wardley is willing to take on all comers and currently doesn’t have a clear path towards his next fight.
“Who I want to fight next is an interesting question because it is not about ‘Oh I want to fight you’ it is about ‘Who is going to set me up to be in the best position’.
“We know about the big fight that is happening at the end of the year [Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury II] and we know that the belts are going to fragment.
“So it’s about setting yourself up for world title eliminators.
“It’s not necessarily about the person, it’s about who is in the right position for me to take their place for where I’m next in line to fight for a world title.”
Parker is the current WBO ‘interim’ champion while Martin Bakole and Agit Kabayel are about to enter purse bids for their IBF final eliminator.
The WBC and WBA don’t currently have mandatory challengers so that may be the route Wardley chooses to go down.
He is ranked No.7 with the WBC and No.6 with the WBA.
Joshua placed one position higher with the WBC and isn’t ranked by the WBA.
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