Following Daniel Dubois’ dominant two-round triumph in his rematch with Fabio Wardley, fellow world champion Filip Hrgovic made his intentions for his own rematch with ‘DDD’ clear, but he will have to defeat one man in order to secure that bout.
Hrgovic got his hands on the IBF throne by defeating Moses Itauma in one of the most shocking moments of the 2026 boxing calendar, but the vacant world title was only on the line because Cuba’s Frank Sanchez agreed to a ‘step-aside fee’.
Since then Sanchez has told Boxing News that he will be Hrgovic’s opponent for his first attempted title defence, having been positioned as the IBF mandatory challenger as a part of his deal.
Speaking with BoxingScene, Hrgovic’s manager, Keith Connolly, has admitted that the Sanchez fight is expected to come next and that it will likely take place in Croatia, despite the demand for ‘El Animal’ to run it back with Dubois in a unification showdown and attempt to avenge his 2024 defeat.
“I think the likelihood is it’s Sanchez and in Croatia. It’ll be great for Filip to have a homecoming fight. I think the Croatian people deserve it and so does Filip.
“Hrgovic would love that next. We’ll probably fight Sanchez and get that out of the way and then do the bigger fight afterwards. I think it builds up Filip anyway.”
Whilst a unification with Hrgovic looks to be out of the question for Dubois’ mooted February return, the Brit’s timeline does align with that of WBC heavyweight world champion Agit Kabayel, who attempts his own first title defence against Nelson Hysa next month.
