Hrgovic, Dubois to fight for IBF interim heavyweight title

Saturday's fight between Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois will be for the IBF interim heavyweight championship, the organization said in a letter, according to boxing reporter Dan Rafael.

Hrgovic and Dubois are scheduled to meet in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the undercard of the Deontay Wilder versus Zhilei Zhang bout.

The decision to upgrade Hrgovic-Dubois to an interim title bout allows Oleksandr Usyk to remain undisputed heavyweight champion at least through June 1.

The IBF initially reportedly planned to strip Usyk - who defeated Tyson Fury by split decision May 18 to become the first undisputed heavyweight champ since 2000 - and make Hrgovic-Dubois for the full heavyweight belt. However, Usyk requested an exception from the IBF last week to keep the title and his undisputed status. It's unclear how much longer the IBF intends to keep Usyk as its champion.

Usyk is scheduled to face Fury in a blockbuster immediate rematch Dec. 21 in Riyadh.

Hrgovic has been the IBF mandatory challenger since August 2022 when he defeated Zhang in a narrow decision. The undefeated Croatian has competed twice since then and is coming off a TKO of Mark De Mori on the Anthony Joshua versus Otto Wallin undercard last December.

Dubois went 1-1 in the ring last year, losing to Usyk in an August fight for the WBA, IBF, and WBO heavyweight titles and then beating Jarrell Miller in December.

The Hrgovic-Dubois winner is expected to defend the belt against Joshua, who's planning a major Saudi-backed fight in September at London's Wembley Stadium.