The ambitious push across the Atlantic represents the culmination of a golden period for British boxing, but Warren views it as merely the next phase in a sustained global strategy. The groundwork for an explosive 2027 campaign will be laid in the coming weeks and months through a succession of high-stakes, domestic blockbusters that carry global ramifications for the entire division.
The immediate focus falls on the capital this weekend, where London’s O2 Arena hosts the eagerly anticipated Slugfest II between Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley. With world title honours at stake, the rematch promises to deliver all the unbridled aggression of their first encounter. Wardley enters the ring determined to exact revenge and recapture the WBO world championship, while Dubois seeks to cement his position at the very pinnacle of the division. Should Wardley succeed in regaining his crown, the stage will immediately be set for a lucrative deciding trilogy bout, creating yet another massive attraction on the domestic and international calendar.
That London collision serves as the opening act for what is being billed as the Battle of the Aged in December, when Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua finally collide inside Cardiff’s Principality Stadium. Contested for versions of the world heavyweight championship, the showdown between Britain’s two most decorated modern giants represents one of the most lucrative events in sporting history. Yet, far from signalling the end of an era, the Cardiff extravaganza is designed to serve as the direct prelude to an even more expansive 2027, packed with sell-out arena and stadium battles commanding sky-high ticket and pay-per-view prices.
Warren has made it clear that the winners, and quite possibly the losers, of these monumental autumn and winter contests will remain woven directly into the fabric of his long-term heavyweight vision. The pool of fighting talent available to Queensberry extends well beyond the headliners, drawing upon a deep and dangerous crop of international contenders who have already proven their credentials at championship level.
Among that group is Filip Hrgovic, the fearsome Croatian iron man who demonstrated his pedigree by defeating the highly touted young prospect Moses Itauma for one of the sanctioning body belts. Itauma himself remains an integral part of future plans despite that setback, possessing the youth, power, and skill to rebuild towards another major opportunity. At the same time, the continental market continues to flourish, exemplified by Agit Kabayel, who is scheduled to defend another version of the heavyweight crown before a partisan crowd of 50,000 spectators in a German stadium.
Reflecting on the relentless sequence of high-calibre fixtures that have reshaped the landscape of the sport over the past year, Warren noted that his promotional outfit has spent twelve months delivering precisely the calibre of matchups that the boxing public craves. Looking forward to the coming calendar year, he anticipates an itinerary overflowing with multiple heavyweight showcase events featuring this established cast of champions and contenders, alongside several fresh faces capable of altering the division’s power balance.
The potential combinations are vast. In addition to a possible Wardley-Dubois rubber match, a clash between Tyson Fury and Daniel Dubois continues to simmer with immense public appeal. However, Warren’s ambition extends far beyond consolidating his control over the European and British markets. Conquering the United States remains the definitive benchmark for any truly global boxing promoter, and Queensberry has already made decisive strategic moves to ensure their transatlantic expansion lands with maximum impact.
Central to that American blueprint is the promotional capture of Jared Anderson. Widely regarded as the premier heavyweight talent produced by the United States in recent years, Anderson represents the only American fighter currently deemed capable of competing on level terms with the formidable European and British brigade assembled under the Queensberry banner. Warren has explicitly identified the young American as a cornerstone of his promotional push into the United States, providing the company with an authentic domestic drawcard for major cards at Madison Square Garden and other premier American arenas.
Yet this decisive march into the American heartland inevitably brings Warren into direct competitive contact with formidable rival forces. Dana White, the long-standing chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, has made his long-awaited foray into professional boxing through his newly minted Zuffa Boxing venture. White has already muscled his way into the promotional architecture of the Fury-Joshua spectacle in Cardiff, staking a claim in the elite heavyweight sphere.
White’s arrival in the sport has reignited a fierce, public war of words with Anthony Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn. The bitter personal and professional exchanges between Hearn and White have dominated the sporting headlines, creating an atmosphere of hostility among the promotional figures steering the sport’s biggest names.
Warren, having navigated decades of fierce promotional feuds of his own, has observed the escalating insults between White and Hearn with a mixture of detached amusement and seasoned perspective. Reflecting on his own protracted and acrimonious rivalries with Hearn over the years, Warren remains unperturbed by the promotional melodrama playing out in the public eye.
The veteran promoter has long maintained that paying supporters purchase tickets and television subscriptions to witness the gladiators inside the ropes rather than the executives arguing behind press microphones. While acknowledging that public squabbling between promoters generates tabloid noise, Warren insists that boxing enthusiasts care exclusively about the quality of the action provided by the fighters. Furthermore, Warren has maintained a productive rapport with White, noting that he gets along well with the UFC boss because both men share a deep-seated enthusiasm for fierce commercial competition.
From Warren’s vantage point, Queensberry is currently enjoying a golden era unprecedented in British and European boxing history, driven by an exceptional stable of fighters and a consistent appetite for staging high-risk, high-reward encounters. That roster will soon receive an additional shot of quality and depth with the imminent return of popular New Zealand heavyweight Joseph Parker. The former world champion is preparing to resume his career after serving a suspension following a positive drug test that ultimately stripped him of his world title. Parker’s rehabilitation and re-entry into the upper echelons of the division offers Warren yet another battle-tested name to deploy in stadium headliners on either side of the Atlantic.
Yet of all the potential maneuvers currently occupying Warren’s attention, none is more captivating than the lingering presence of Oleksandr Usyk. The Ukrainian maestro stands undisputed as the supreme pugilistic technician of his era, widely revered as the finest boxer produced across the last two generations. Having systematically dismantled the heavyweight division, Usyk made the unprecedented decision to voluntarily vacate all of his undisputed championship belts, deliberately stepping aside to allow the emerging generation of fighters to contest the sport’s most coveted prizes.
Crucially, however, Usyk has deliberately stopped short of announcing a formal retirement from combat sports. Had he officially hung up his gloves, the Ukrainian would have joined the immortal Rocky Marciano as one of the only undisputed heavyweight world champions in history to conclude a career entirely unblemished by defeat.
Instead, Usyk has chosen to maintain his conditioning and competitive sharpness through crossover combat ventures while carefully assessing the remaining options available to him in the traditional fight game. A return to the conventional squared circle remains a distinct and tantalising possibility, particularly given Usyk’s peerless record against the division’s leading lights. Over the course of his remarkable reign, the Ukrainian maestro twice outpointed Anthony Joshua, twice bested Tyson Fury, and twice overcame the firepower of Daniel Dubois, proving himself repeatedly against the finest heavyweights of the modern era.
Warren has made no secret of his desire to orchestrate the return of the Ukrainian icon to the mainstream heavyweight fold under the Queensberry banner. Recognising the sheer historical magnitude of another Usyk campaign, the promoter has issued an unequivocal invitation to the former undisputed king. Warren has stated that if Usyk retains the appetite to etch his name even deeper into the sport’s history books, Queensberry stands ready to provide the stage, declaring that the door to his stable of elite heavyweights is not merely open, but entirely off its hinges.
Securing the return of the Cat of Kyiv to challenge the next wave of champions would represent one of the crowning triumphs of Frank Warren’s promotional career, providing the ultimate centrepiece for an audacious global heavyweight campaign.
