- Wladimir Klitschko has been contemplating a return to the ring to face Dubois
- He has not fought in almost eight years since losing to Anthony Joshua
- Negotiations have been scrapped and Dubois will seek an alternative opponent
An astonishing bid by Wladimir Klitschko to come out of retirement to challenge Daniel Dubois for his world heavyweight title has been rebuffed.
The younger brother of Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko threw his hat into the prize-ring as the potential opponent for Dubois in a defence of the IBF belt in Saudi Arabia on February 22.
Negotiations for the fight have been abandoned this week in the wake of a widely derided performance by Mike Tyson in his comeback against YouTube phenomenon Jake Paul.
Klitschko, at 48, is exactly a decade younger than the one-time Baddest Man On The Planet and has been out of action for a little under eight years in contrast to Iron Mike’s 19-year hiatus from boxing.
Even so it was felt by the Saudi-Anglo promoters of the first big fight night of 2025 in Riyadh that they could not risk anything close to resembling a repeat of the 58-year-old Tyson’s pension-nearing inability to land more than 18 punches in his truncated eight-two-minute rounds struggle against Paul
Certainly not in a full-blown 12-round world title fight.
Despite Klitschko being renowned for keeping in prime physical condition – in the gym, on the golf course, in the sea, on the ski-slopes and above all in readiness for military action in Ukraine’s war against Russia – it was thank you but no thank you as far as fighting Dubois is concerned.
The IBF are understood to have been wary about sanctioning this fight as a voluntary defence for Dubois following his demolition job on Anthony Joshua which won him their title. In the end they were not pushed to a decision.
The wider public might well have been intrigued to see another former world champion return to action, despite the scepticism which surrounded Tyson’s return to the ring. A certain fascination with legends lacing up the gloves again attracted a record-paying crowd of 72,800 to the Dallas Cowboys stadium for Tyson v Paul. Even more remarkably, the television and closed circuit screening by Netflix drew a world-wide viewership in excess of 80 million.
Solely as an event, this was a spectacle which will have attracted attention to boxing of more of the younger generation. As a fight in its own right, not so much and the integrity of the hardest game at the highest level is a more sensitive matter.
Klitschko, an Olympic gold medallist, won 64 of his 69 fights, 53 of them by knockout. He still holds the record for the longest cumulative reign as a world heavyweight champion at 4,382 days. He and his brother champion Vitali dominated the ‘Klitschko Era’ of heavyweight boxing from 2004 to 2015.
Dr Steelhammer retired for the first time following the loss of his titles to Tyson Fury in November 2015. He came back 17 months later at the age of 41, declaring himself ‘obsessed’ with regaining his world titles, only to be knocked out by Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium when on the brink of victory.
Of late he has been reported ‘obsessed’ again. This time with defeating Dubois to become the oldest ever world champion. That record will remain now with George Foreman, who was 46 years and 169 days old when he retired for good on June 8 1995, while holding the IBF title.
One of three contenders will now pick up the challenge to Dubois for that same belt – New Zealand’s rejuvenated former world champion Joseph Parker, Chinese heavy-hitting giant Zhilei Zhang or Germany’s undefeated European champion Agit Kabayel.
Zhang and Kabayel have been in talks to fight each other on the undercard in Riyadh. But if one gets the call for the mega-bucks title fight against Dubois the other will fight Parker for the position as the IBF’s mandatory heavyweight challenger.
