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Anthony Joshua may thwart Dubois’ rematch and face an amateur rival
Anthony Joshua could be in line for another world title fight without having to rematch Daniel Dubois.
Joshua was expected to enter his second fight with Dubois after suffering a brutal fifth-round defeat in their IBF heavyweight title fight in September.
However, injuries sustained in the fight sidelined “AJ” and Dubois is reported to be defending his crown against Joseph Parker on February 22, although the fight has not been formally confirmed yet.
Joshua can now likely turn the tide for the rematch with Dubois completely, given that the WBC is set to sanction an interim title fight between Zhilei Zhang and Agit Kabayel, while the full title is on the line when Oleksandr Usyk faces Tyson Fury in a rematch on December 21.
“The WBC has received a formal request to sanction such an interim title fight and the WBC will agree to sanction it,” said the organization’s president Mauricio Sulaiman Heavenly sports.
“Why? Because over the last few years we have done everything we can to achieve the best, great fights in every weight class, especially heavyweight.
“We have been clear and lucid throughout that the WBC will not impose any obligations that would be inconsistent with having the ultimate undisputed champion because he is fighting against the best available.
“There is no better fight than Usyk-Fury. Considering this fight and the possibilities for the future, we have accepted the fight between #2 and #3 for the interim title.
“Keep them vigorous and make sure the division has the best fights it can.”
The clash between Zhang and Kabayel is expected to end on February 22 in Riyad over the proposed Dubois-Parker bill.
Joshua has six points in the governing body, two places below Zhang, whom he defeated at the 2012 Olympics, and Sulaiman admits he would consider sanctioning the winner of the former two-time world heavyweight champion.
“Absolutely,” Sulaiman added.
“This opens up opportunities to continue to organize more fights.”
Joshua will be a keen observer as Fury looks to exact revenge on Usyk, two weeks on Saturday after losing a split decision to the Ukrainian in May.
“AJ,” who has lost twice to Usyk, is yet to face “The Gypsy King” despite years of clamor for the pair to meet, but a Fury victory could bring that seemingly elusive prospect closer to reality.
Galal Yafai won the vacant interim WBC flyweight title and ended Sunlit Edwards’ career with a sixth-round victory at Resorts World in Birmingham.
2020 Olympic gold medalist Yafai (9-0, 7 KO) was sidelined twice in 2024, stopping Agustin Gauto in the eighth round in April and then warming up against Edwards, who stopped Sergio Oroczo Oliva in the third round in September.
Former world champion Edwards (21-2, 4 KO) was the last to be eliminated in June, defeating Adrian Curiel by wide technical decision, which preceded the loss of the IBF belt to Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez.
Yafai put pressure on Edwards from the beginning, and in the first round he hit Edwards with a right hand.
Yafai did not give his opponent a moment’s peace, bombarding his rival with constant, robust blows, and in the fourth round the move was already one-sided, so the decision was not long in coming.
This conclusion was reached in the sixth period, when Yafai trapped his fighter in the corner, and when he ruthlessly unloaded his weapon with both hands, the referee took pity on Edwards and waved off the fight.
Edwards announced his retirement in post-match interviews.
Sunlit Edwards announces he is retiring from boxing.
What a career it was 👏#EdwardsYafai pic.twitter.com/32FIyADg2P
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) November 30, 2024
Smith comes back, Walker abuses Ritson, and Vuong gets the hang of it
Callum Smith (30-2, 22 KO) successfully bounced back from his loss to Artur Beterbiev and stopped Carlos Galvan (20-15-2, 19 KO) in the fifth round of their delicate heavyweight fight, with the guy down three times before the finish .
The vacant Commonwealth middleweight title went to Kieron Conway (22-3-1, 6 KO) after a split decision victory over Ryan Kelly (19-5-1, 8 KO). One judge gave Kelly the win 115-114, but the other judges had Conway ahead by scores of 116-112 and 115-113.
Conah Walker (14-3-1, 5 KO) was a comfortable winner against Lewis Ritson (23-5, 13 KO) through ten rounds in the welterweight bout. Walker scored 97-93 twice and 98-93 the third time.
.@conah_walker gets a W over Lewis Ritson 👊#EdwardsYafai | Live on DAZN pic.twitter.com/HTYeegWXT4
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) November 30, 2024
Cameron Vuong (7-0, 3 KO) took a step up in his class and scored a competitive ten-round points victory over former British, Commonwealth and European champion Gavin Gwynn (17-4-1, 5 KO). In the end, Gwynne cut both eyes, and Vuong won on scores of 97-94, 96-94 and 96-95.
Further undercard summary
Troy Jones (12-0, 6 KO) defended his English champion title after a points victory over Michael Stephenson (9-3, 0 KO). James won by a wide margin 98-91 in two cards, and in the third he had a 97-93 advantage, even though he was deducted a point in round five for using his shoulder.
AND STILL 🏆
Troy Jones defeats Michael Stephenson by unanimous decision 👊#EdwardsYafai | Live on DAZN pic.twitter.com/ge8apWG3Mk
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) November 30, 2024
Hamza Uddin (3-0, 1 KO) defeated Benn Norman (7-6, 0 KO) 59-56 in a flyweight fight, and Aaron Bowen (4-0, 2 KO) knocked out James Todd (4-4-2) , 0 KO) with a body shot in the fifth round of the middleweight fight.
In the super featherweight division, Ibraheem Sulaimaan (6-0, 4 KO) was another winner by body shot, this time in the second round against Marvin Solano (24-21, 8 KO). Super middleweight debutant Taylor Bevan (1-0, 1 KO) defeated Greg O’Neill (7-9-1, 1 KO), also in two rounds.
Harlem Eubank will move up to welterweight next Friday when he faces Nurali Erdogan at the Walker Activity Dome in Newcastle.
Wasserman by Kalle Sauerland Boxing promotes while Channel 5 telecast Eubank vs Erdogan live in the UK.
Eubank (19-0, 8 KO) has been steadily climbing up the ladder since 2022, where he had four fights, including an impressive second-round knockout of Sean “Masher” Dodd.
The Brightonian had three fights in 2023, and after scoring heavily over Miguel Cesario Antin, he stopped Ishmael Ellis in his seventh fight in July.
Eubank then finished the year with the best performance of his career in his first scheduled twelve rounds, outclassing Timo Schwarzkopf, dropping the German twice en route to a penultimate round stoppage that earned him the vacant WBO Global super lightweight title.
His debut at 147 pounds is secure because Erdogan (16-3, 1 KO) is not an outstanding boxer and has only one victory in the initial phase. The Frenchman has lost three of his last seven, the last by a split decision over undefeated Faizan Anwar in May in Abu Dhabi.
Prediction: Eubank should find it easier to settle into his novel weight and I expect him to score a landslide victory on the scorecards.
Card preview
The remaining ten fighters on the list are in the super lightweight division, where Ben Marksby (10-0, 0 KO) can go the distance for the first time and score points with Levi Kinsiana (11-3, 1 KO), who is scheduled to fight next month fight for the title of English lightweight champion.
In eight rounds, Dan Toward (4-0, 3 KO) can once again delight his fans and can stop Johan Nova (9-1, 7 KO) on the schedule in the super welterweight division. Robert Lloyd-Taylor Jr (8-0, 1 KO) can score points in a welterweight clash with Robin Zamora (21-33, 10 KO).
In six-round action, Cyrus Pattinson (6-1, 4 KO) makes his Wasserman debut and could return from his loss to Conah Walker by making his super welterweight debut against Andrei Antonov (4-3-2, 1 KO) in the distance.
Joe Laws (14-3, 5 KO) is fresh off a penalty shootout loss to Stephen McKenna in August, and “The Benwell Bomber” should return to winning ways after his initial fight with Adam Cieślak (8-21-1, 3 KO) in middleweight.
Undefeated super middleweight Niall Brown (12-0, 4 KO) can secure points in the fight against Pablo Sosa (12-8-3, 3 KO), and J’Hon Ingram (5-0, 4) can do the same KO). his super featherweight meeting with Jonatas Rodrigo Gomes de Oliveira (6-15, 5 KO).
𝐏𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑🥊
Niall Brown returns to business in Newcastle, November 22 🔥@Ladbrokes | @SauerlandBros | #EubankErdogan pic.twitter.com/jUEqLhxsjt
— Wasserman Boxing (@WassermanBoxing) November 6, 2024
Super featherweight talent Sophie Alisch (9-0, 1 KO) can remain undefeated thanks to a points victory over Marina Sakharov (6-19-2, 3 KO).
In four rounds of fights, Codie Smith (3-0-1, 0 KO) should defeat Engel Gomez (8-40-3, 4 KO) in super featherweight and Lee Rogers (1-0, 0 KO) in super bantamweight ) can also win on points against the tough Yin Caicedo (10-26-4, 4 KO). Super featherweight newcomer Eduard Georgiev (1-0, 0 KO) should take some time to beat Jack England (1-11-1, 0 KO).
Lennox Lewis shared his predictions for Friday night’s fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson.
Paul will face Lewis’ former opponent Tyson at AT&T Stadium in Texas, where about 65,000 fans are expected to attend hit event.
Most experts predict a victory for the brash YouTuber, believing that the over 30-year age difference will be too much for “Iron Mike” to overcome.
However, former undisputed heavyweight king Lewis, who stopped Tyson in 2002, is backing his former rival to get the job done.
In an interview with Schmo“The Lion” insisted the 58-year-old “still has it.”
“I think it will be a good fight. Mike Tyson, what he does is two-dimensional, he’ll come at you and try to knock you out.
“Now you must try to stay away from him and his powers.
“I saw him practicing one day and throwing some good combinations.
“Those six-punch combos. Paul needs to make sure he doesn’t get in their way because Tyson is a real fighter.
“Tyson still has it, he can throw a punch, he can take a punch, so he’s doing something he’s used to.”
When asked about this, Lewis also had no doubts Nov 29 for his predictions.
“Mike Tyson will win.”
Even though the pair will only fight in two-minute rounds and will wear larger gloves, the fight is of a professional nature and will go down in their official records.
Many in the boxing world have expressed concerns about the health of the aging Tyson, with some even speculating that the fight scenario could have a predetermined outcome.
“MY PEN TEACHER IS COMPLETELY DISAPPOINTED” 😴@Carl_Froch‘S #PaulTyson the forecast is in 🔮
(By @frochonfighting) pic.twitter.com/G6PzMANY9K
— Professional boxing fans (@ProBoxingFans) November 14, 2024
That said, the event is expected to attract tens of millions of viewers, thanks in enormous part to its live broadcast on streaming giant Netflix.
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