Anthony Joshua could be ordered into fighting Daniel Dubois for WBA world title after Brit rival is stripped of belt
ANTHONY JOSHUA could soon be ordered to fight Daniel Dubois after the WBA banished their ‘interim’ titles.
The governing body recently announced they would scrap the widely unpopular and largely meaningless secondary belts.
Among those effected were Dubois, 23, and Chris Eubank Jr, 31, who were both interim title holders.
The WBA are now instead set to elevate the stripped champions to mandatory challengers.
It means Dubois, or ‘Regular’ champion Trevor Bryan, 32, could find themselves ordered to fight for Joshua’s belt.
But both heavyweight contenders face a wait to be called to challenge AJ, with the WBA second in line.
Joshua’s last fight was against IBF mandatory Kubrat Pulev, 40, in December which he won in nine rounds.
Right after, he was immediately ordered to face WBO No1 Oleksandr Usyk, 34, in a mandated defence, set for September 25 at Tottenham’s stadium.
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The WBA is the next title then after for Joshua to defend, with Dubois or Bryan waiting in the wings.
AJ’s last WBA mandatory was against Alexander Povetkin, 40, in 2018.
All four governing bodies agreed to let Joshua, 31, and Tyson Fury, 32, swerve their mandatories in order to unify the belts.
And terms were all agreed for a first-ever, four-belt undisputed title decider on August 14 in Saudi Arabia.
But Fury failed in his attempt to walk away from a contacted trilogy bout with Deontay Wilder, 35, who won his right to an immediate rematch in arbitration.
It means Wilder, who drew to his rival in 2018 but was beaten in 2020, gets another crack at the Gypsy King on October 9.
And with Joshua fighting a month beforehand, he will eye the winner, and hope the governing bodies again agree to prioritise unifications over mandatories.
Joe Joyce, 35, who beat Dubois in November, is already AJ’s WBO mandatory, but with Usyk next in line, he will be made to wait even longer.