Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker, two of the most popular heavyweights out there, are set to throwdown in the co-main event of the insanely stacked ‘Last Crescendo’ card in Saudi Arabia next February.
Whilst we still have several months of analysis and predictions to go, former sparring partner of both heavyweights, Solomon Dacres, has now shared his thoughts on the Riyadh Season co-main event.
9-0 heavyweight Solomon Dacres previews Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker
Undefeated English heavyweight Solomon Dacres has trained with both Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois and Joseph Parker and ahead of his own return to action, spoke to Boxing News about the incoming heavyweight showdown.
“Yeah, I’ve sparred both of them and know them both. It’s a good fight, Parker’s shown that he can nullify these power punchers with Zhang and Wilder, [whereas] Dubois is on great form.
“He’s a good boxer is Dubois, he’s got a bit more than Wilder – he’s not a one-punch merchant – he’s going to be jabbing, throwing other shots and putting the pressure on, very good fight.”
When asked whether there was anything from those sparring sessions that could influence the fight on February 22, 2025, Dacres acknowledged that the result could simply come down to who can implement their perceived ‘best weapon’.
“A lot of people do know about Dubois’s jab, he’s got a very good jab, exception really – that’s one of his best weapons.
“Parker’s got very sharp hands, very fast hands, and he’s very cute in there. You know what he does yeah, they’ll have a gameplan with Andy Lee and he’s good at executing that [gameplan].”
When pressed for a prediction on who’ll emerge victorious from the Kingdom Arena, Dacres simply stated: “I don’t know man, it’s a close one – close, very close.”
At the time of writing, Dubois remains the moderate favorite – which shouldn’t really be a surprise given how easily (and brutally) he was able to dispatch Anthony Joshua in September.
There had been rumors that an immediate rematch with AJ could have been made for February 22; Dacres believes it’s a good thing that Joshua has opted for more time to rest and recover.
“Yeah, when you’ve been in there with someone that’s put you on the canvas multiple times, hurt you and knocked you out, it’s not always the best decision to go straight back in there.
“That wasn’t like a one-punch knockout you know, there were multiple times where he was hurting him in there so yeah, he’s doing what he’s doing.”
A reminder that ‘The Last Crescendo’ event, featuring Dubois vs Parker is one of the best cards in recent memory, with seven title fights set to go down on February 22, 2025.
- Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2 – Undisputed Light Heavyweight
- Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker – IBF Heavyweight
- Carlos Adames vs Hamzah Sheeraz – WBC Middleweight
- Zhilei Zhang vs Agit Kabayel – Interim WBC Heavyweight
- Shakur Stevenson vs Floyd Schofield – WBC Lightweight
- Vergil Ortiz Jr vs Israil Madrimov – Interim WBC Super Welterweight
- Joshua Buatsi vs Callum Smith – Interim WBO Light Heavyweight
Solomon Dacres fights for the English heavyweight title this weekend on Queensbury Promotion’s ‘Magnificent 7’ card against 12-1 former champion David Adeleye.
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