Anthony Joshua has been said to focus on another British rematch as he looks to move away from talks to fight Daniel Dubois again.
AJ was eliminated Four inside five rounds before his brutal knockout defeat to Dubois at Wembley in September.
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And a return fight was scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia in February – until Joshua’s team suggested he might have to pull out due to injury.
Dubois now looks set to face a new challenger in Riyadh, while AJ plans a return in the summer.
And former world cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew named Dillian Whyte as an alternative opponent for the next fight.
he told talksport: “It’s tough because I think he would want a rematch.
“Every time he steps into the boxing ring it’s an event, if AJ just says he’s coming back against Charlie Chaplin it means Wembley.
“The truth is he is a big global name and one of the main faces of boxing no matter just the heavyweight division.
“So it never really matters who he fights, people just want to see him in the ring again.
“There are so many names, but who wouldn’t want to see him face Dillian Whyte again?
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“His first fight was fantastic, and so are many other fights, really.”
Joshua, 35, defeated Whyte, 36, in 2015, nearly ten years after losing in their amateur bout.
And they were scheduled to have a rematch in August 2023 until Whyte returned “adverse results” in pre-fight drug tests.
Whyte was later cleared to fight again after a contaminated supplement was discovered to be the cause.
The heavyweight returned to action with a win over 36-year-old Christian Hammer in March and will face 36-year-old Ebenezer Tetteh. On Sunday, December 15.
Meanwhile, Joshua awaits the outcome of Tyson Fury’s rematch with Oleksandr Usyk on December 21.
Fury, 36, lost his WBC title and undefeated record against Usyk, 37, in May, becoming the first four-belt undisputed heavyweight champion.
But Usyk was forced to vacate the IBF version in order to advance to the rematch as Dubois was elevated from the interim belt.
AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn warned that he may have to wait until next year to fight Fury.
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So Dubois is in talks for a new opponent, including 32-year-old Joseph Parker and 41-year-old Zilei Zhang.
And Jake Paul has emerged as an unexpected contender after the heavyweight champion shared a message.
