Heavyweight Daniel Dubois will now defend his WBO International title against Ricardo Snijders at BT Sport studios on Saturday August 29. The British and Commonwealth champion was due to face Eric Pfeifer in a behind closed doors showdown, but issues with the Germans medical have derailed those plans.
While it’s a blow for Londoner Dubois (14-0, 13KOs), Dutch title holder Snijders (18-1, 8KOs) has jumped at the chance to gatecrash the world rankings.
Dubois, 22, hasn’t boxed since last December and needs to sharpen his skills ahead of his highly anticipated showdown against Joe Joyce, scheduled for London’s O2 on Saturday October 24.
Promoter Frank Warren said: “Of course it’s a disappointment that we have had to make a late change, but the most important thing was getting Daniel a solid test.
“We’ve had Snijders training for weeks getting ready for this fight on the off chance there was an issue, and thank God we did.
“Pfeifer‘s team didn’t submit his MRI on time and given the current circumstances we couldn’t stand for the uncertainty or take the risk that the fight would be pulled at the last minute.
“Daniel hasn’t boxed since last December, some eight months ago. That’s a long time, especially for Daniel who has always been active.
“Daniel trained at home with his sister and younger brother during lockdown and he has been back in the gym with his trainer Martin Bowers for several weeks.
“Joe got an impressive win last month, so this is Daniel’s chance to show what he’s made of.
“Of course my nerves will be on edge a bit next week.
“They were until Joe came through against Michael Wallisch, and until Daniel’s arm is raised after the Snijders fight it will be the same.
“Snijders fancies the fight and was happy to say ‘yes’ and jump at the opportunity of his career. He’s coming up from Cruiserweight and wants to follow in the footsteps of fighters like Usyk, Haye and Bellew.”
Snijders, 26, turned professional in January 2016 and little more than two years later claimed the Dutch title.
Seven of his last eight wins have come inside the distance, and knows he will need his power to hold off Dubois.
In his last outing, Ricardo knocked out Istvan Kun inside two rounds.
Warren rates Dubois as the finest prospect in the Heavyweight division and the world governing bodies appear to agree.
Dubois is currently ranked number three for Anthony Joshua’s WBO belt and is at seven for the WBC title that is held by his Frank Warren stablemate Tyson Fury.
Warren added: “Providing Daniel can solve this Dutch puzzle, we can push on with the Joyce fight and then we can hope for a world title fight next year as a mandatory contender.”
Another obvious mismatch.
I’m giving him (and everyone) a pass on the obvious shake the rust off fights. His next fight is an obvious step up, so he needs to be sharp. While I think Joyce is far too slow and robotic he does possess skills. If Dubois isn’t the real deal (and I believe he is), then Joyce will expose him.
I always knew that Warren would not allow Dubois to take on that guy, who was a top amateur and unbeaten as a pro.
100%
like to see dubois vs joseph parker within the next couple of fights maybe next year i had high hopes of parker becoming h/w champ ,but somewhere along his future path he has gone off track but still a threat to h/w division ,and i hopefully like to see daniel give parker a reallly good fight ,parler has the experience but dubois has the hunger and definatly something big to prove
Alan, Parker is still young enough to possibly figure things out, but I wonder if he lacks that necessary killer instinct. Remember, as soon as the referee stopped the in fighting against AJ, Parker was content to have a staring match. He definitely has all the tools, but if the instinct isn’t there he’s on his way to gatekeeper status. Especially against a guy like Dubois who not only has the tools, but clearly will knock you out if you aren’t at your best.