Promoter Frank Warren intends to push for title fights for his heavyweight duo Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce.
The pair fought in November, and Joyce earned the win by forcing a mid-round retirement from the young contender. Dubois suffered a fractured eye socket and has now made a successful comeback, taking on Bogdan Dinu at the weekend to become the mandatory challenger to WBA champion Trevor Bryan.
Warren now wants to set up a bout with the belt holder, writing in BoxingScene.com:
“It was a notable win over a highly-ranked opponent that pretty much puts him right back where he was before his encounter with Joe Joyce late last year.
“What I will say is that we didn’t work hard to carve out this opportunity for him to win a title for decoration. This victory sees to it that Daniel is in line for a shot at the WBA world title currently in the possession of Trevor Bryan, who fights under the Don King banner over in the States.
“This would represent an ideal test and stepping stone for Daniel in his career progression and we will be pushing the WBA to call on the fight.”
With Joyce yet to have another fight of his own, Warren is looking for the WBO title contest to resolve itself to allow the 35-year-old Londoner a crack at the belt.
“The heavyweight logjam at the top end probably won’t clear for some considerable time now if events play out as anticipated,” he explained.
“Tyson Fury is going into his trilogy fight with Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua, unless he drops a belt, must deal with a mandatory defence of his WBO title.
“If Tyson and AJ both come through unscathed then the obvious intention is for them to finally get it on in what would be a two-fight blockbuster.
"The same is true for Big Joe. Unfortunately for the Juggernaut, plans for his assault on the top end of the division were delayed and thwarted by uncertainty over the Tyson-AJ fight. As WBO mandatory, Oleksandr Usyk wouldn’t sign up to an Interim world title fight with Joe until the battle of the Brits was over the line – and even then there remained a legal challenge from his side.
“Now, with Tyson fighting Wilder, Usyk can exercise his right to a Joshua fight and Joe will be in mandatory challenger position to the winner.”