By Barry Holbrook: Frank Warren says there’s a chance of a rematch taking place if this Saturday’s fight between Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce turns out to be a “barnburner.”
Dubois (15-0, 14 KOs) and Joyce (11-0, 10 KOs) will be fighting for the vacant EBU heavyweight title on November 28th on BT Sport at the Church House in Westminster, UK.
The winner of the Dubois-Joyce fight will be able to challenge for a world title against the WBO heavyweight belt-holder by 2022 after Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury complete their two-fight deal in 2021.
There’s also a chance that the Dubois vs. Joyce winner could fight #1 WBO contender Oleksandr Usyk if the current WBO champion Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) vacates the belt after his December 12th title defense against Kubrat Pulev.
Joyce, 35, and Dubois have a lot to gain from their fight this weekend, and it should be fun to see how this one plays out. Dubois is the bigger puncher of the two, but he doesn’t possess anywhere near the same experience as the 2016 Olympic silver medalist Joyce.
Rematch possible for Dubois vs. Joyce
Rematch possible for Dubois vs. Joyce“If it’s a barnstormer, you know there’s going to be a rematch,” Warren said about this Saturday’s Dubois vs. Joyce fight. “That’s what happens, that’s what the public wants, and that’s what we want, and both fighters would want it. They want it.
“Of course, they have,” Warren said when told that the loser of the Dubois vs. Joyce fight still has a future in the sport. “It’s not the end. Of course, we say the winners. But it’s also about grit, determination, and coming back from losses.
“Many world-class fighters have come back from losses that have gone on to do great things. So it’s not the end of the world, whether it be Joe [Joyce] or whether it be Daniel for a loss. That’s not the end of the world.
“It’s great for the winner. 2021 is going to be like; they’re going to get some Christmas present, aren’t they? So that’s great for them, but it’s not the end of the world for the loser.
“Joe has a tremendous track record as an amateur,” Warren said about Joyce. “He was an Olympic silver medalist. And he should have got the old; he was robbed, I thought.
He’s got a tremendous amateur pedigree, and he’s fought with everybody. Most of the guys that turned pro now fought with him as an amateur. Can this new kid on the block beat Joe,” Warren said of Dubois.
“Is Joe’s experience going to be too much for him, and Joe can punch and box. For me, it’s going to be who can stamp their authority on the fight from the beginning.
“It’s not going to be a case of them going and throwing bombs at each other, although that could happen,” said Warren.
For there to be a rematch between Daniel Dubois and Joyce, their fight next Saturday will need to be drama-filled and potentially end in controversy. If it’s a one-sided affair or a boring one, it won’t make sense for them to do it again.
We’ll likely see a rematch if Dubois loses, as he’s the one that is viewed as having a great future. The 23-year-old Dubois is a lot younger than the 35-year-old Joyce, and his fighting style is similar to Antony Joshua’s when he first turned professional in 2013.
It’s difficult to imagine Dubois walking away from a loss to Joyce without trying to avenge it, as it would be poison for his career not to attempt to gain revenge.
Yarde vs. Arthur will have a live crowd on December 5th
“We are going to have fans there, but we’re not going to sell tickets,” said Warren about the Anthony Yarde vs. Lyndon Arthur fight on December 5th.
“What we’re going to do is give the tickets to the care workers, the ones that worked hard, the care workers.
“I’m also inviting the Chelsea pensioners that weren’t able to go and celebrate armistice day earlier this month. So that’s going to be our inited audience.
“Nothing is for sale, but the public is going to be there as guests of ours. It’s thanks for all they’ve done. We don’t know. We think it’s going to be 1000 or whatever it is. I’m not sure what the numbers are going to be. We’re going to find out tomorrow.
“It looks to be like we have a chance of full venues by the end of March or April, provided they start vaccinating people I think we have a good chance of getting back to normalcy as far as live audiences are concerned.
“He’ll be out next year,” said Warren about Tyson Fury. “I’m sure he wants to get back into the ring as soon as possible. The fact is, it needed a live gate, and it couldn’t stack up,” Warren said of Fury’s canceled plans of fighting on December 5th. ”
It’s a great move by Warren to give away free tickets for the Yarde vs. Arthur fight on December 5th. Having a crowd there for the fight, even a small one, will help create energy for the contest.
It’s unknown whether WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will take a warm-up fight in early 2021 or face Anthony Joshua straightaway for the undisputed championship.
Warren talks Joshua-Pulev £24.95
“The only way it’s going to happen is for Anthony Joshua to take less money,” Warren said about Joshua’s pay-per-view price for his fight with Kubrat Pulev being lower the £24.95, which is the current price.
“He’s [Joshua] the world heavyweight champion, is he prepared to do that [take less money]? Obviously, that’s not the case, and they haven’t got a live gate.
“None of us have got a live gate; you’ve got to make it work. That’s the only way it can work, that’s it. If that fight for Tyson had taken place on the 5th, that’s about the price spot [£24.95] that we’d have been.
“I’m being very honest about it; that’s where we’d have been at. I understand where the fans are coming from, and I do understand that, but we’re in a unique position at the moment,” said Warren.
Joshua could score a lot of points with boxing fans if he decided to take less money for his December 12th title defense against Kubrat Pulev or for the sake of dropping the pay-per-view price on Sky Box Office from £24.95 to £19.95.
The high unemployment makes it difficult for many boxing fans to justify paying more to see Joshua fight an older fighter like Pulev, who is seen as an easy mark.
Pulev, 39, isn’t a real threat to Joshua, and the fans don’t understand why they’re being charged the same price as Joshua’s last contest against Andy Ruiz Jr.