DANIEL DUBOIS reckons the behind closed doors showdown against Erik Pfeifer will be ideal preparation for his showdown against Joe Joyce.
The British and Commonwealth Heavyweight champion was due to face Joyce this month, but the date at London’s O2 has been pushed back to Saturday October 24 at the same venue because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To keep busy Dubois (14-0, 13KOs) defends his WBO International championship against Germany’s Erik Pfeifer (7-0, 5KOs) on Saturday August 29 at BT Sport studios as part of Frank Warren’s summer series.
Joyce (10-0, 9 KOs) meets Pfeifer’s stable mate Michael Wallisch (20-3, 13KOs) on Saturday July 25 in a non-title ten rounder giving the arch rivals an opportunity to sharpen up ahead of the much anticipated autumn showdown.
Dubois, 22, said: “The delay until October for the fight against Joe has given me more time to get things right and the Pfeifer fight is a bonus.
“It’s a shame that fans can’t attend, but I’m not moaning. A lot of fighters aren’t going to get work for months.
“Hopefully Joe does the business on Wallisch and we give fans something to look forward when we finally meet later in October.
“It’s great to have an outing so I can blow away the cobwebs. When fight night comes it will have been more than seven months since my last contest. I’ve never had a layoff that long since I started boxing.
“I want to deliver a big performance and then it will be all systems go to KO Joe in October.”
Further attractions on the August 29 show include British super flyweight champion Sunny Edwards (14-0) defending his IBF International title against the former Commonwealth champion and Cameroon Olympian Thomas Essomba (10-5).
Liverpool’s Sam Maxwell (13-0) will defend his WBO European super lightweight title against former European champion and British title challenger Joe Hughes (17-5-1) from Malmesbury.
Former world amateur champion Willy Hutchinson (10-0) takes on the experienced ex-Commonwealth champion Luke Blackledge (26-9-2), with 2016 Olympian Muhammad Ali (1-0) from Bradford having his second professional encounter.
