Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois organisers face a second blow after Liam Smith pulled out of his undercard fight with Josh Kelly. Now the card faces another major hurdle as Josh Warrington could miss out on the chance to become a two-weight world champion, despite landing a shot at IBF super-featherweight champion Anto Cacace.
Dubois defends his IBF heavyweight boxing crown against two-time former champion Joshua in Wembley Stadium’s headline fight on Saturday, September 21. But despite the highly anticipated clash between the two Brits going ahead as planned, the card – backed by Saudi-funded Riyadh Season – has run into problems with its other fights in the build-up.
Former WBO light-middleweight champion Smith unexpectedly fell ill from a virus and announced that he would be pulling out of his fight with contender Kelly on the weekend. Losing an ex-champion like Smith on the card is undoubtedly a big setback, but organisers have since saved the fight with Ishmael Davis stepping in to fight Kelly instead.
However, organisers still face a separate issue as they await whether Warrington’s bout with Cacace will still be a title fight. Warrington – who has twice reigned as IBF featherweight champion – is stepping up a division to take on the Irishman.
The IBF have so far refused to ratify Warrington as a challenger because he has not fought in the 9st 4lb division in over a decade and has never been ranked. Those involved have desperately been petitioning the IBF to sanction the bout as Cacace’s first defence after he beat Joe Cordina to claim the title in May. They remain confident that the bout will get IBF approval by the weekend, however, according to The Star.
Warrington has not won a fight since 2022 when he beat Kiko Martinez to reclaim the IBF featherweight title. But the Leeds man lost it in his first defence when he was narrowly outpointed by Luis Alberto Lopez later in the same year. He returned last year to challenge Leigh Wood for the WBA title at 9st but was stopped in the seventh round when he was up on the cards.
After securing Davis as a replacement for Smith on the card on Monday, promoters Matchroom said in a statement: “The unbeaten Ishmael Davis (13-0, 6KOs) has been confirmed to take on Josh Kelly as part of Riyadh Season Wembley Card this Saturday September 21 in London. The Leeds-born fighter gets the opportunity to go toe-to-toe with Kelly at Wembley Stadium this weekend, following the withdrawal of Liam Smith due to a virus.
“The fight is part of a stacked card at England’s national stadium on Saturday, headlined by Daniel Dubois’ first defence of his IBF heavyweight title against two-time former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in front of what is expected to be a record crowd for a UK boxing event.”
A whopping 96,000 spectators are expected to flock to Wembley to watch one of the most anticipated boxing events of the year so far. Joshua’s showdown with Dubois will be his 13th world title bout, where he will look to seize the IBF belt and become a three-time world champion.
