Although Filip Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KOs) has been a mandatory challenger for the IBF heavyweight belt for nearly two years, he won't be able to fight for the championship trophy anytime soon.
Until recently, it looked like El Animal would fight on Saturday for the International Boxing Federation trophy against Daniel Dubois (20-2, 19 KOs) provided Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) vacates it early, but as of Tuesday, the Croatian-British bout in Riyadh was announced as "only" the IBF's final eliminator.
It's possible that the winner of the Hrgovic-Dubois fight will fight Anthony Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) for the IBF belt in September, but first the Federation will have to take the title away from Usyk, whose team recently asked that the mandatory defense be postponed until a rematch with Tyson Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs), originally scheduled for the turn of 2024 and 2025.
