Dubois to defend title against Parker

Daniel Dubois will defend his IBF title for the second time when he faces Joseph Parker in Riyadh next year. For the past weeks, Dubois (22-2) had been under pressure, mostly from the IBF, to find an opponent to defend his title against. Some names came up during the deliberations, including Parker’s. Now, it’s been confirmed that the two will be facing each other. 

The 27-year-old already delivered an emphatic victory when he knocked out former heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua in his first title defence. He will now have to prove himself against a former champion for the second time. 

Commenting on the development, Parker’s promoter, David Higgins, said that Parker (35-3) had encountered a lot of top fighters in the heavyweight division, with most of the fights ending in a win. 

But, according to Higgins, that does not mean the 32-year-old is underestimating his younger opponent, who showed the world that he deserved to retain the title after defeating Joshua: “he would never underestimate Daniel Dubois, who’s shown some formidable ability as well and is also on a rampage, if you like, having destroyed Anthony Joshua.”

Higgins also stated that Parker’s long-term goal was to set up an undisputed fixture and walk home the winner with all the titles: “Joseph wants to become undisputed heavyweight world champion. He’s going to give it everything until the day he retires, so I’d be lying if I didn’t say that was the goal. 

“He wants to beat Dubois, and then he wants to fight whoever has the other belts and try to unify.”

There are suggestions that the winner of the Usyk vs. Fury 2 fixture would face the IBF title holder to determine the undisputed champion of the heavyweight division. 

If the plans proceed as expected, by next March, there should be information on who the two heavyweight boxers battling for the undisputed spot are, as well as details of when and where it is happening.