Regardless of the result of the fight Usyk v Fury. Joshua may fight for the championship belt

There is currently a lot of speculation circulating online that Croatian mandatory IBF contender Filip Hrgovic may take the risk and face young British fighter Daniel Dubois in Saudi Arabia this summer.

It is anticipated that this bout will be part of a mega-card featuring Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev, Deontay Wilder vs. Zhang Zhilei, and the planned Queensberry-Matchroom 5 on 5 tournament.

This bout holds significant importance for Anthony Joshua, as after the Hrgovic vs. Dubois fight, he can step into the ring with the winner for the right to hold the IBF title in the heavyweight division.

Of course, all championship belts will be on the line during the fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury, who will meet on May 18th to compete for the undisputed championship title. However, it is also known that the IBF is ready to finally mandate a long-awaited mandatory fight.

Hrgovic earned his position as a mandatory contender after defeating Zhang Zhilei in 2022, and has since patiently awaited his challenge.

However, since Fury and Usyk have signed an agreement for a guaranteed two-way rematch, it is expected that the winner will likely vacate the IBF belt and simply take the WBA, WBC, and WBO belts in the second fight.

This would allow the IBF to order Hrgovic to face the next highest-ranked contender for the vacant world heavyweight championship title, which at the moment is Joshua.