As Daniel Dubois looks to move forward with his career, his team had to take a moment to revisit the recent past.

The unbeaten heavyweight from London remains on course for a stay busy fight on August 29, though he had to endure a change of opponents along the way. Dubois (14-0, 13KOs) will now face The Netherlands Ricardo Snijders (18-1, 8KOs), a late replacement for Germany’s Erik Pfeifer who was pulled from the show.

Reasons for the change seemed to vary between event handlers Queensberry Promotions and those who guide Pfeifer’s career.

As previously reported by krikya360.com, EC Boxing founder Erol Ceylan challenged the notion that Pfeifer was no longer fit to remain on the card due to incomplete medicals. The Germany-based promoter instead alleged that Queensberry Promotions sought to pull a fast one, removing Pfeifer for fear that he would upset plans for Dubois to face England’s Joe Joyce (11-0, 10KOs) in a mouthwatering clash due to take place in October.

“If we were worried about Pfeifer, why did we make the fight in the first place,” Frank Warren, Hall of Fame promoter and founder of Queensberry Promotions rhetorically asked in a question posed to krikya360.com. “We never sold Daniel’s next contest as anything but an opportunity for him to get out and box before he fights Joyce in October.

“Snijders or Pfeifer, it doesn’t matter to Daniel.”

With the event drawing nearer, an issue came up over an outstanding MRI form having not arrived on time. Ceylan informed krikya360.com that all medicals were supplied in advance and that he eventually lost contact with the Queensberry team, in addition to not receiving a response when rumors swirled of Pfeifer being replaced on the card.

Queensberry continues to insist otherwise, and that their hands were tied in terms of proceeding with the show. Snijders was already part of the card as a stand-by opponent in the event either main event participant could not proceed with the show—be it for COVID-related reasons or any other issue (such as incomplete medical records).

“The most important thing was getting Daniel out and neither us nor our broadcast partner (BT Sport in the United Kingdom, ESPN+ in the United States) could have the possibility the fight was pulled at the last minute,” notes Warren. “[Pfeifer’s team] didn’t provide the MRI by the time agreed. Incomplete medicals finally arrived on Monday, but it was too late by then.

“In addition, they had not returned the contract as promised. Our priority was simply to ensure that Daniel fights on the 29th with an opponent who is cleared to box, so we had to go with the backup opponent who has been training for weeks and is coming in fit and ready.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox