Britons Joshua and Dubois to fight for IBF heavyweight belt in September

LONDON — Anthony Joshua will fight fellow Briton Daniel Dubois for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight belt on Sept. 21 at Wembley in London, promoters announced on Wednesday, after Oleksandr Usyk was forced to vacate the belt.

With Usyk set to fight Tyson Fury in a rematch in December, the Ukrainian was forced to vacate IBF belt as a result, just five weeks after becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion with a split-decision victory.

Usyk's mandatory IBF title defense against challenger Filip Hrgovic was left pending and Dubois became the new interim IBF heavyweight champion by beating the Croatian earlier this month.

Dubois has a 21-2 record with 20 knockouts while Joshua's record is 28-3, including 25 knockouts. Usyk beat Joshua twice—in 2021 and 2022—while he knocked out Dubois in 2023. — Reuters