Daniel Dubois has admitted that he would have preferred to be facing Anthony Joshua in his return to the ring on February’s Saudi super card.
The IBF heavyweight champion brutalised his British rival back in September at Wembley Stadium, and it had appeared certain that Joshua would activate his rematch clause for a second bout. But that has fallen by the wayside, and now Dubois takes on Joseph Parker in Riyadh instead.
Parker has been on the mother of all comeback tours the past few years, emerging as one of the world’s best heavyweights. He was viciously knocked out by Joe Joyce in 2022, but has since won five on the bounce, including scalps over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang.
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Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker confirmed for massive Saudi Arabian fight night
After talks for a rematch with Anthony Joshua appeared to stall in recent months, it became clear that Daniel Dubois would need to fight again. The 27-year-old appears to be in the prime of his career and wants to stay active and earning now he’s atop the sport.
Having already defeated one former champion in Joshua, he moves on to another former world champion in Joseph Parker. The New Zealand native has held WBO gold before, but is arguably on an even better run at the moment.
Meanwhile, ‘Dynamite Dubois’ has had to come back from a couple of big defeats to Joe Joyce and more recently Oleksandr Usyk. His current run started when he stopped heavyweight contender Jarrell Miller in the tenth round last December, leading him to a top spot with the IBF.
He then took on perenial number on contender Filip Hrgovic, whom he put on arguably a career-best performance against to land a round eight knockout. That led him to Wembley and Joshua, who he blasted out within five rounds.
Daniel Dubois breaks his silence on new fight
Dubois is a man of few words, and hasn’t even posted an Instagram main page message about the fight yet. But he did join Jim White on TalkSPORT this morning and spoke about what he needs to do to beat Joseph Parker.
“I’m really excited and ready to go,” he said. “I’m glad that I’ve got an opponent now and I’m just ready to seek and destroy. I’ve got to work again, it’s been talked about for a while so I’m happy we can get in the ring and get it on.
“I want to show the people that I’m the real deal, I think I’ve got to just go right through him and show my speed, youth, energy and power. I’ve got to bring it, he’s an experienced veteran of the game so I have to break him down and finish the job.”
Daniel Dubois reacts to Anthony Joshua rematch falling through
After an initially aggressive move towards a rematch from Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn, it appears that he is opting to take some time away from the ring. This means that Dubois must face a different challenge in Parker.
“To me as a fighter I would have liked to get it on with AJ,” he continued. “I wanted to get a final conclusion to that.
“But I’m just very happy to get out again and defend this belt. I’m sure that might happen down the line, who knows? For now I’m ready to go.”
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