Daniel Dubois has withdrawn from the IBF final eliminator against Frank Sanchez, forfeiting a route that could have led to a third meeting with unified champion Oleksandr Usyk.
The IBF had ordered the eliminator to determine the mandatory challenger for Usyk. By stepping away from the contest, Dubois removes himself from that immediate pathway; Usyk stopped Dubois in their 2023 title fight and again this summer in the undisputed championship.
Sanchez remains available for the eliminator and America’s Jared Anderson is the next highest-ranked contender in the IBF ratings. Dubois is the latest fighter to decline the opportunity — Efe Ajagba, Moses Itauma and Richard Torrez Jr previously rejected chances to face Sanchez in an IBF final eliminator.
A Queensberry spokesperson, speaking to Sky Sports on Dubois’s behalf, said the eliminator offered little value to him now. They noted Derek Chisora was named the IBF mandatory at the federation’s last convention, leaving the Sanchez fight positioned only after Chisora, and argued the IBF position is low in the queue of obligations tied to Usyk’s unified championships. Accepting the bout, they added, would have narrowed Dubois’s options with the other sanctioning bodies.
The spokesperson said Dubois remains proud to have been IBF champion but felt the order and the fight would do little to advance his career or put him back in a title position. They indicated Dubois plans to return in 2026 and that significant fights are being considered for him.
Dubois is a stablemate of new WBO champion Fabio Wardley and is ranked No. 4 in the WBO heavyweight ratings. Promoter Frank Warren told Sky Sports that Wardley’s next move will be a title defence against a top-10 opponent — “a big fight” the team is targeting, potentially in early spring.