Who’s Next For Dubois?

Daniel Dubois headed into his world title bout with Fabio Wardley in Manchester with questions to answer. He came into the fight after losing to Oleksandr Usyk, with suggestions that he quit against the Ukrainian. However, Dubois answered all those questions and more when he climbed off the canvas twice against Wardley, going on to stop him in the 11th round. With another world title around his waist, who’s next for the hard-hitting Brit?

A Rematch Of A Fight Of The Year Contender

Dubois’ fight with Wardley is undoubtedly a fight of the year contender and likely the winner. The two fighters left it all in the ring, and the bout had everything, from knockdowns to gruelling exchanges. Wardley, who operates under the same promotional company as Dubois, Queensbury, agreed to the fight as a voluntary defence of his WBO World Heavyweight title, with promoter Frank Warren revealing there is a rematch clause in the contract post-fight.

Because Wardley gave Dubois a voluntary shot and lost his title, it’s likely the Ipswich-born heavyweight will be keen to win his belt back, and it’d be his quickest route into a title fight. However, due to the damage Wardley took in the fight, he’s unlikely to be fighting again anytime soon, with Warren indicating Dubois will be back out before the year’s out. So, there could be a rematch enforced, but potentially not next.

Another Huge In-House Fight

Frank Warren, who has built a stable of the world’s leading heavyweights, has the upcoming superstar of the division in Moses Itauma under his promotion. And interestingly, it’s Itauma who is the No 1 contender for Dubois’ WBO belt. While it’s highly unlikely at this point that Itauma, who is only twenty-one years old, will take on the more experienced Dubois this year, they’re certainly on a collision course to clash at some point in the near future.

Warren will likely look to build the fight into a huge event, with potentially more than one world title on the line. It’s a bout that could be viewed as a mega fight in the future, with sportsbooks and even casinos online likely to get in on the action of what would be a British blockbuster.

A Run Out Before A Huge Fight

The path that Dubois could take could see him have a run out later in the year against a top 15 heavyweight due to the gruelling nature of the fight with Wardley. What this would also do is allow Warren and Queensbury, alongside Dubois’ advisor Sam Jones, to assess the landscape in terms of where the world titles are and what the path is to becoming unified and potentially undisputed.

Usyk, who Dubois has lost to twice, currently holds the other three heavyweight belts, but a third fight between the pair is unlikely. However, the Ukrainian, who fights Rico Verhoeven in the coming weeks, could give up one or more of his belts if he’s unwilling to defend them. This could open the door for Dubois to add more world titles to his collection.

Conclusion

Daniel Dubois is arguably the leading heavyweight on the planet right now, especially with Oleksandr Usyk off doing other things. After Dubois convincingly defeated Wardley, it will be interesting to see who he fights next, as there are plenty of options available to him, but the belts remain tied up by Usyk.