Anthony Joshua will fight either Daniel Dubois or Tyson Fury next, promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed.
Dubois dispatched Joshua in September, dropping ‘AJ’ four times before an emphatic fifth-round stoppage to retain the IBF heavyweight title at Wembley Stadium.
While Joshua possesses a rematch clause, Dubois also has other options, promoter Frank Warren confirmed, but Hearn is adamant there are only two options on the table for the former world champion.
“It's weird saying it after a knockout defeat but AJ is actually in a really good position,” Matchroom boss Hearn told BBC Sport.
“We're going to fight Dubois or Fury next. That's it. No other interest or warm-up.”
Warren said last week that he was pushing to finalise a fight for Dubois by the end of this week.
“He’ll fight next year – early next year – and we are just looking at a few matches,” Warren told Talksport on Tuesday (15 October). “I hope we get it done by next week, who he’ll be facing, but he’s going to defend his title.
“And we’ll see who it’s going to be. It may be AJ, it may not. It depends, but whatever happens, he’ll be out. He’ll be facing someone, that’s for sure, and capitalising on what he did in that fight.
“I mean, I have no problem with that [Joshua rematch]. I’d have that fight all day long for him.”
Saudi adviser Turki Al-Sheikh recently announced that the nation’s first event of 2025 will take place in February. And Warren is keen to see Dubois, 27, compete on that card.
“That’s what I would like to see,” he said. “That’s where I’d like to see him fighting. Well, we’ll see what happens.”
The next Saudi event will take place on 21 December, as Tyson Fury seeks revenge against Oleksandr Usyk, seven months after losing to the Ukrainian in Riyadh.
Usyk beat Fury on points to become undisputed heavyweight champion, but the unbeaten southpaw later vacated the IBF belt, which now belongs to Dubois.
Dubois’s victory over Joshua, who turned 35 on Tuesday, marked “Dynamite”’s first defence of the gold.
