Former WBA Super/IBF/WBO heavyweight champion, British Anthony Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs), told the media today that terms for his next fight have essentially been agreed upon, although he did not disclose the name of his opponent.
Anthony Joshua stated, “I’ve pretty much got my next fight sorted, and now I’m highly motivated.”
Joshua is currently planning to fight on September 21 at Wembley Stadium in London, UK, with the opponent expected to be current IBF interim heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs). The IBF might even directly pit the two for the full championship title.
The 26-year-old Dubois has a professional record of 21 wins, 2 losses, with 20 of those victories coming by way of knockout, ranking him fifth in the BoxRec heavyweight rankings. In June 2nd, Dubois secured the vacant IBF interim heavyweight title by stopping Filip Hrgović (17-1, 14 KOs) in the eighth round. Previously, Dubois had lost to Joe Joyce and Usyk, displaying less resilience, but seemed to show improvement in his last two contests.
Zhang Zhilei (27-2-1, 22 KOs) will likely need to wait patiently for his opportunity. Should Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) defeat Tyson Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) again in a December 21st rematch, he might return to cruiserweight, vacating all his heavyweight belts. In such a scenario, Zhang Zhilei could potentially contend for one of the vacant titles.