Daniel Dubois has been given the green light to make an ‘optional defence’ of his IBF world title against Fabio Wardley in a bumper British heavyweight battle.
Dubois retained his IBF belt after a stunning fifth-round stoppage win over Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium last month.
Talks for a rematch between Dubois and Joshua in early 2025 have been put on hold amid concerns from Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn about the ‘fast turnaround’ and Wardley could emerge as a replacement opponent for Dubois.
IBF President Daryl Peoples confirmed that Dubois ‘can make an optional defense against any ranked fighter before April 22’, when asked about a potential fight against Wardley.
Wardley has propelled himself into the IBF rankings and world title contention after inflicting a first-round knockout on Frazer Clarke in this month’s rematch.
Speaking to Sky Sports this month, Wardley said: “It needs to be a level of smartness going into this now about how we pick my next opponent, who they are, how they’re ranked, how that fight and that win would set me up going forward.
“Obviously hoping to get some sort of eliminator, world title shot, something along those lines.
“So yeah, it’s going to be a bit more of a strategic one.”
With 17 knockouts in 18 wins, Wardley would be a threatening opponent in a big domestic showdown with Dubois, who has 21 knockouts in his 22 wins.
Frank Warren, the promoter of Dubois, has confirmed his fighter will defend his IBF title against a different challenger, if Joshua is not ready for a rematch.
“He is the champion and it’ll be done on his terms,” Warren told Sky Sports.
“Daniel will defend his title in February and if it’s not Joshua then it’ll be against somebody who is ranked in the top five.”
Hearn had admitted that Joshua’s could require longer preparation time for a second fight against Dubois.
“Our concern at the moment is just timing,” Hearn told Sky Sports.
“You’ve got a few little niggles, you get them looked at and then you can’t punch again for four, five weeks. If we’re going to fight him in February, we need to start camp in about three weeks’ time. It’s quite a fast turnaround.”
Deadline for Dubois?
After April 22, the IBF will enforce a mandatory title defence for Dubois, which is likely to be against the winner of Martin Bakole’s final eliminator fight against Agit Kabayel.
The IBF regulations state the champion “shall be obligated to mandatorily defend his championship within intervals of no more than nine months against the leading available contender in the heavyweight division as designated by the championships chairman”.
The IBF has, however, stated that Dubois would be free to pursue a unification bout after this date.
The only unification fight available to Dubois would be against the winner of the Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury rematch and thus a shot at the undisputed heavyweight title.
Usyk will fight Fury in Saudi Arabia on December 21, with the WBC, WBO and WBA belts at stake.
