The World Boxing Association confirmed Don King outbid Frank Warren for the rights to stage one of the last ‘regular’ heavyweight title fights in history.
Trevor Bryan, the current holder of the secondary strap, may only have one or two more defenses of his title left as the WBA continues to merge the belts.
Once the American battles Daniel Dubois – a former interim champion, the winner will be mandatory for the ‘super’ title.
This scenario means whoever comes out on top will fight Oleksandr Usyk by 2023 to clarify one champion in the top division fully.
On Monday, King took the rights at a purse bid, out-matching Warren by over half a million dollars.
“Don King Productions won the bidding for the World Boxing Association (WBA) World Heavyweight Championship bout between American Trevor Bryan and British Daniel Dubois.
“The event took place this Monday, March 21, via Zoom. With Don King himself present at the Purse Bid, the team representing Bryan won the rights to promote the bout.
“They placed a bid of three million one hundred and sixteen thousand and one dollar (US$3,116,001.00).
“The winning promoter gave June 18 as the date for the fight. Possible venues are London, England; South Florida, United States; and New York, United States.
“The next bid came from Queensberry Promotions. They offered an amount of two million five hundred and three thousand dollars (US$2,503,000.00). They proposed to hold the fight in Derby, England, on May 21 as the first option, Midlands, England on June 11 as the next alternative, and another for June 18 in London.
“Now, Don King Productions will have 20 days to send the contracts signed by both parties starting this Monday, March 21, date on which the bidding took place.”
Don King / Frank Warren
HEAVYWEIGHT
Bryan vs. Dubois is one of the final stages for the secondary belts. They have been polarizing to fans since their inception in the 2000s.
Held by Alexander Povetkin, David Haye, and more recently, Mahmoud Charr, the title is given little significance in the big picture of the sport.
Once it’s gone, nobody will miss it.
The views expressed in this article are opinions of Phil Jay.
Phil has over ten years of boxing news experience. Founding editor of World Boxing News since 2010. WBN has over one billion views on all platforms.
Attending over 200 events and scoring over 400 fights, Phil has overseen WBN to a quarter of a million followers on social media.
Follow WBN on Twitter @WorldBoxingNews.