A few ‘niggles’ that Anthony Joshua has could keep the rematch with Daniel Dubois from happening in February as planned.

In order to maintain his IBF heavyweight title, Dubois stunned the world in September by knocking out AJ at Wembley Stadium.

Fury vs Joshua could happen next instead of the Dubois rematch.

In the days that followed, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn stated that early discussions were already in progress and asserted that an immediate sequel was very likely. However, it now seems that if Joshua’s recuperation period and Dubois’ upcoming fight date conflict, he might be heading in a different way.

‘Triple D’ will defend the red and gold strap on the last card of Saudi Arabia’s current ‘Riyadh Season’ in February, according to Queensberry Promotions chief Frank Warren. This might be too short of a turnaround for Joshua.

“AJ desperately wants revenge but the only issue is timing,” Hearn told the BBC.

“For the rematch to happen in February, training camp will have to start in a couple of weeks.

“There are always niggles and he had a few so physically it’s just a case of whether AJ is ready to do that.”

If Joshua doesn’t face Dubois then Hearn insists the only other fight they want is the long-awaited all-British showdown with Tyson Fury, who is set to run it back with Oleksandr Usyk on December 21 for the WBC, WBA and WBO belts.

“It would be frustrating if we made the Dubois rematch and Fury won [vs Oleksandr Usyk],” Hearn added.

“Then we’re sitting there going, ‘Hang on a minute, we’re fighting Dubois but we could have fought Fury in May for the biggest fight in boxing.’

“Win or lose, we can fight Fury next summer. But if he wins, AJ fights him for the world title.”

Dubois dominated and KO’d Joshua in September, to the surprise of many in the boxing world.

This comes after Warren told Sky Sports that Dubois vs Joshua 2 must happen in early 2025.

“He is the champion and it’ll be done in his terms,” Warren said.

“Daniel will defend his title in February and if it’s not Joshua then it’ll be against somebody who is ranked in the top five.”

Warren went on to reveal Dubois would take the second fight in a ‘heartbeat’ but has cast doubts over whether Joshua’s side would want it.

“Who’d you advise him to fight?” he continued.

Agit Kabayel and Martin Bakole have been ordered by the IBF to compete in a final eliminator to decide Dubois’ mandatory. Kabayel is ranked No.3 by the major sanctioning body and Bakole occupies the No.4 spot. The No.1 and No.2 places are vacant at the time of writing while Zhilei Zhang completes the top five.