ANTHONY JOSHUA has suffered a blow to his world title hopes with his next fight yet to be sanctioned for the belt.
AJ is expected to be back at the 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium in September after three wins in Saudi Arabia.
And British rival Daniel Dubois is the leading name to welcome Joshua back to UK shores.
Dubois recently stunned Filip Hrgovic to win the interim IBF title – guaranteeing him the next shot at Oleksandr Usyk’s full version.
But with Usyk due for a rematch with Tyson Fury – following his historic victory in May – he is unable to face No. 1 contender Dubois.
Therefore, there was hope that the IBF would strip the undisputed Ukrainian champion to allow AJ and Dubois to fight for the vacant belt.
But the IBF said Celestial sports there was NO request to sanction the all-Brit fight for the belt.
Usyk, 37, became the heavyweight division’s first four-belt undisputed champion following victory over Fury, 35.
And now the two are expected to meet again in Saudi Arabia, on December 21st.
Meanwhile, Joshua, 34, is closing in on his first Wembley fight since 2018, with Dubois, 26, the favorite to face him.
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AJ recently posted on social media: “Almost finished my negotiations for my next fight!
Joshua twice sold out Wembley for his world title wins over Wladimir Klitschko and Alexander Povetkin.
He also defeated Carlos Takam and Joseph Parker at the 75,000-seat Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
His most recent fights in the UK were at O2, with wins over Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius, after a double loss to Usyk.
Deontay Wilder was in contention to fight AJ but twice flubbed his lines after losses to Parker, 32, and Zhilei Zhang, 41.
So after Dubois’ victory over Hrgovic, 32, he leads the fight against Joshua.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
