Don King knocks out Frank Warren to win Trevor Bryan-Daniel Dubois promo rights

Don King still has his mojo.

The Hall of Fame promoter’s Don King Productions (DKP) has secured the rights to the secondary WBA heavyweight title fight between unbeaten Trevor Bryan and top-ranked contender Daniel Dubois.

King, who promotes Bryan, won with a winning bid of roughly $3,116,001 to defeat Queensberry Promotions—Dubois’ promoter—which came up short at $2,503,000 during Monday’s purse bid hearing.

Bryan (22-0, 15 KOs) will take the top billing at 55% ($1,713,800.55), with the remaining 45% ($1,402,200.45) going to Dubois, who is Bryan’s mandatory challenger. The fight must take place by July 28.

As part of the agreement, DKP must submit $311,600.10) by no later than Tuesday to avoid a default. Accordingly, contracts must be signed and returned to the WBA no later than April 10. The target date for the bout is June 18, the same day unbeaten WBC middleweight world champion Jermall Charlo makes a voluntary defense against Maciej Sulecki in Houston.

Bryan-Dubois could occur either in London, New York, or South Florida.

Bryan (22-0, 15 KOs) is coming off a 12-round split decision win over previously unbeaten Jonathan Guidry, who suffered a fight-changing knockdown in the final frame. The 32-year-old Bryan won the WBA “regular” belt last January in an 11th-round knockout of former WBC heavyweight titlist Bermane Stiverne despite coming off a 29-month layoff. Bryan was initially slated to face former title challenger Manuel Charr, who was stripped of the title after he failed to secure a travel visa. Furthermore, the German-based Charr had not boxed since November 2017.

Bryan and Charr were due to meet again on January 29, only for the latter to fail a second time in securing a travel visa. As a result, Guidry took his slot and nearly pulled off the upset.

Dubois (17-1, 16 KOs) has won two fights consecutively since getting knocked out by Joe Joyce in November 2020. ‘Dynamite’ was ahead on two of the three scorecards before an eye injury prevented him from continuing and was counted out. It was later learned he sustained a fractured left eye socket during the bout.

The Bryan-Dubois winner will become the mandatory challenger to Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13KOs), who holds three of the four major heavyweight titles. However, the Ukrainian must rematch former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs), albeit the plans are currently on hold as Usyk, like fellow countryman Vasiliy Lomachenko, remain in Ukraine to fend off the Russian invasion.