Fabio Wardley will look for a heavyweight unification with Oleksandr Usyk after his contest with Daniel Dubois.
Wardley was elevated to WBO champion after the Ukrainian vacated that belt. But Wardley will still seek to press for a bout with the man who holds the WBA, WBC and IBF championships.
Usyk is an Olympic gold medallist, an undisputed champion at both cruiserweight and heavyweight, and still unbeaten as a professional.
Wardley is a more unorthodox heavyweight champion. A 'white collar' boxer initially, he had no amateur experience but has risen to the top as a professional.
He wants to pit himself against Usyk. "That is exactly the thought process," Wardley told Your Site News.
"In terms of putting people against Oleksandr Usyk, you've almost tried everything in terms of the unorthodox style of someone like Tyson Fury and then the well-schooled style of someone like [Anthony] Joshua or Dubois, for instance, those strong guys.
"Maybe throw a curveball at him, the white collar kid at him, and see what he comes up with."
He must come through a stern test against former world champion Daniel Dubois, a heavy-handed puncher who viciously knocked out Joshua in 2024.
"I want to be successful and I want to tick off the big names," Wardley said. "I've got one belt and I'm not planning on stopping there. This fight is a statement of that in and of itself."
Dubois has banished talk of his own defeats to Usyk. "That was just experience for me, learning things. It's in the past now, I feel like I'm better now," he told Your Site News. "I'm not even thinking about that. I'm thinking about the next fight.
"I put all that nonsense behind me and be a man of the future."
Wardley is risking his title, and those future plans, against a highly dangerous opponent. But it's a challenge he relishes.
"No one puts more pressure on my shoulders than me. No one is a bigger critic. No one is harsher on themselves. No one expects more of themselves than me and you see that in my fights and in my performances," Wardley said.
"There is that a no-quit mentality of: 'I will make this work, I will get through, I will succeed.' And again whether I'm the favourite or the underdog it doesn't change things for me. I'll always have that mindset and that mentality."
Dubois is equally determined to win another version of the world heavyweight championship. "For me this is the pinnacle. This is a world title so this is it for me," he said.
"The biggest moment in my life, really. Just for me and my team, going into another world title [fight] is massive. Perfect opponent to do it against and looking forward to it.
"I live for these moments. I feel alive when I'm in so called pressure situations. I'm ready for it."
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