Daniel Dubois is embracing his place as one of the top heavyweights of a new generation.
The big-punching Brit became a two-time champion when he beat Fabio Wardley in May – a fight-of-the-year contender that saw ‘DDD’ down twice early before he took control and punished Wardley until referee Howard Foster stepped in in the eleventh.
Joining Dubois at the top of the tree is Murat Gassiev (WBA Regular), Agit Kabayel (WBC) and Filip Hrgovic (IBF).
Hrgovic pulled off one of the upsets of the year against Moses Itauma last month to capture his belt, showing incredible durability to weather a storm from the young Brit before forcing a stoppage.
Hrgovic’s solitary career defeat came against Dubois back in June 2024 – halted due to cuts in his quest for the IBF Interim heavyweight title despite early success in the bout- a loss which he has since put down to illness.
Since then, ‘El Animal’ has continued to face heavyweight from the UK, with a run of fights against Joe Joyce, David Adeleye, Dave Allen and now Itauma making it five straight contests and four consecutive wins.
Hrgovic is hoping to avenge his defeat to Dubois in a unification down the line, but ‘Triple D’ is focused on his rematch with Wardley for now.
However, at the press conference for that event, which goes ahead on October 17, Dubois stated his belief that he deserves more credit for his triumph over Hrgovic in June of 2024, which was stopped on cuts and is a victory that has aged extremely well.
“We gritted it out and what a fight it was. I could feel that heart he showed when he fought Itauma, but I broke him down a bit more though.
“He wanted to get out I think. He wanted to get out of there against me. I don’t think I get credit I deserve for that win, but now you see it, don’t you? Now you see difference.”
Hrgovic’s run of colliding with British heavyweights is now to set to come to an end, with Cuba’s Frank Sanchez positioned as the mandatory challenger for the Zagreb-born champion’s first attempted defence of the IBF crown.
Should he come through, and Dubois retain his belt against Wardley next month, an in-house Quensberry Promotions unification could well be on the cards in 2027.
