Anthony Joshua will likely have a close eye on Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois if they fight on June 1.
It’s now being widely reported that the Croatian IBF mandatory challenger will risk his position to take on the young Brit in Saudi Arabia this summer.
It’s claimed this bout will take place as part of a mega card alongside Dmitry Bivol vs Artur Beterbiev, Deontay Wilder vs Zhilei Zhang, and the planned Queensberry-Matchroom 5 vs 5 event.
And it will be of keen interest to AJ, as he may well end up facing the winner for a vacant heavyweight world title.
Of course, all four belts will be at stake when Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk meet to crown an undisputed champion on May 18.
However, after that it is known that the IBF will finally order their overdue mandatory fight.
Hrgovic earned his place as their mandatory challenger by beating Zhilei Zhang in 2022 and has been patiently waiting for his shot ever since.
However, as Fury and Usyk have signed a two-way guaranteed rematch clause, it is expected that the winner will likely vacate the IBF belt, and just take the WBA, WBC and WBO crowns into the second fight.
This will leave the IBF to order Hrgovic to face the next highest available contender for their vacant heavyweight world title.
At present, this is Joshua.
Dubois has the chance to crash the party though.
If he beats Hrgovic on June 1, then the IBF would likely order AJ vs Dubois for their vacant heavyweight world title instead.
Time will tell how the situation plays out.
