Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois will be for the IBF heavyweight world title at Wembley Stadium on September 21.
Oleksandr Usyk has revealed that the red belt he won with two consecutive decision wins over A.J. – and defended against Dubois and Tyson Fury – will be on the line.
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The belt is 34-year-old Joshua’s first world title which he won in 2016 when he defeated Charles Martin.
And now it will be at stake again, as 37-year-old Ukrainian veteran Usyk has revealed he has either voluntarily handed over the belt or it will be stripped from him.
The undisputed WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO boss – who recently won a sensational war with Tyson Fury – revealed: “Anthony and Daniel, listen, I know the IBF title is important to you.
“This is my gift to you for September 21. Long live Ukraine.”
This means the rematch between Usyk and Fury on December 21st will undoubtedly not happen.
The diminutive left-hander brought three past versions of AJ to the table in May, while the Gypsy King lost his much-coveted WBC crown.
The plan now is that the winner of the match between AJ and 26-year-old Dubois will face the winner of the Usyk vs Fury rematch.
And Fury – who was bravely allowed to carry on after being knocked down in round-nine and who was gifted a win for a split defeat on one judge’s scorecard – bizarrely claims he would need a knockout to be fair on Usyk a second time around.
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He said: “I have to get him out of there because I won’t be able to get a decision, which is unfortunate because it’s hard enough to win a fight, it’s even harder to win when you have to knock someone out.
“But I am confident and looking forward to the challenge.”
“It was actually easier than I thought, the Usyk fight, very easy.
“People were saying he was hard to hit, but I was troubling him with three- and four-punch combinations and laughing at him.
“My problem with that fight was that it was probably too easy.
“At times it was too easy, it was like I was in there with a local amateur boxer and I was enjoying it and messing around. And I paid the ultimate price for that in the ninth round when I had too much fun and got clipped.
“I was always told ‘never mix your work with fun’ and I always dismissed that – but now it’s starting to bother me. I still enjoyed it, it was all good.
“I heard he has a broken jaw and eye bone, so I hope he will recover and I will see him again in December for Christmas celebrations in Saudi Arabia.”
