The heavyweight division is shining brighter than ever, with Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk all entering the ring before the 2024 boxing calendar concludes.
In truth, though, the landscape in the land of the giants will become much clearer after Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois collide at Wembley Stadium on September 21.
The Brits will square off for Dubois’ newly acquired IBF world title, with the winner putting himself in pole position for an undisputed showdown against either Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Usyk.
However, former super middleweight world champion Carl Froch has scrutinized the trinket’s legitimacy in this fight, claiming that it should still belong to Usyk.
Carl Froch denies that Anthony Joshua is set to become a three-time world champion
Usyk relinquished his IBF world title shortly after his sensational victory over Fury in May, when he was crowned the first undisputed heavyweight king since Lennox Lewis.
And so, Froch believes that the winner between Joshua and Dubois cannot claim to be the true world champion in their division.
On Froch on Fighting, he said: “You can’t say that winning a vacant world title that’s been stripped off the champ makes you a three-time world champion – that’s the problem I’ve got with this title being fragmented, or vacated, or taken off the real champ which is Usyk.
“If AJ beats Dubois, he’s going to hold his hand up with that IBF belt and say: ‘I am now a three-time heavyweight world champion,’ and everybody with a brain is going to be looking, saying: ‘hang on a minute, didn’t you lose to the guy you just took that belt off?’ Boxing shouldn’t be like that.”
Will we see Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua next year?
Should Joshua come through Dubois, Saudi Arabia boxing chief Turki Alalshikh has promised to make an offer for Fury vs ‘AJ’, regardless of whether the ‘Gypsy King’ exacts revenge over Usyk in December.
The all-British domestic dustup has been spoken about for years, but only now, with the influence of Alalshikh, does it finally appear realistic.
There is no indication as to whether the potential matchup would take place in the UK or Middle East but, with it being a Riyadh Season event, Saudi Arabia seems to be the most likely destination.