Joshua and Dubois to fight for IBF heavyweight belt in September

AFP/ File picture

Anthony Joshua will fight fellow Briton Daniel Dubois for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight belt on September 21 at Wembley in London, after Oleksandr Usyk was forced to vacate the belt.

With Usyk set to fight Tyson Fury in a rematch in December, the Ukrainian was forced to vacate IBF belt as a result, just five weeks after becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion with a split-decision victory.

Usyk's mandatory IBF title defence against challenger Filip Hrgovic was left pending and Dubois became the new interim IBF heavyweight champion by beating the Croatian earlier this month.

Dubois has a 21-2 record with 20 knockouts while Joshua's record is 28-3, including 25 knockouts.

Usyk beat Joshua twice - in 2021 and 2022 - while he knocked out Dubois in 2023.

More from Sports

  • Liverpool players join family for Diogo Jota's funeral

    Carrying a red floral wreath bearing his shirt number, Diogo Jota's Liverpool teammates joined relatives and residents in a small Portuguese town on Saturday for the funeral of the football star, who died with his brother in a car crash on Thursday.

  • Own goal propels Chelsea past Palmeiras into CWC semis

    An 83rd-minute Weverton own goal from a deflected Malo Gusto cross gave Chelsea a nervy 2-1 win over a spirited Palmeiras side in the Club World Cup quarter-finals on Friday.

  • Sabalenka fights off Raducanu, Alcaraz marches on

    Women's top seed Aryna Sabalenka fought off inspired home favourite Emma Raducanu in a cauldron-like Centre Court atmosphere to keep her Wimbledon quest on track but it was the end of the road for two other Grand Slam champions on Friday.

  • India lead England by 244 runs in Edgbaston test

    India finished day three of the second test on 64-1 to lead England by 244 runs after they dismissed the hosts for 407 in the first innings at Edgbaston on Friday despite Jamie Smith's commanding and unbeaten knock of 184.

  • Grand Slam champions Keys, Osaka crash out of Wimbledon

    There were to be no Fourth of July celebrations for American Madison Keys as she joined the exodus of seeds from Wimbledon with a 6-3 6-3 defeat by 104th-ranked German Laura Siegemund in the third round on Friday.