Joseph Parker will attempt to become a two-time heavyweight champion on February 22, challenging IBF belt holder Daniel Dubois in their co-main event on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitri Bivol 2 in Riyadh.
Parker’s return
Former WBO heavyweight champion Parker (35-3, 23 KOs) recently turned his career around, defeating 40-year-olds Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang in back-to-back fights to earn this title against Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) on the card Turki Al-Shiekh.
Dubois is in his prime, powerful and dangerous. This won’t be the piece of cake that Parker has had in his last two fights against the old guys. It’s a great story that Parker has turned his career around, but this time he’s facing a young, live dog. Dubois is not over the hill.
If Parker had a better chin, he would have a good chance of winning, but he doesn’t shoot well, as we saw in his last fight against Zhang on March 8, 2024. Parker went down twice in that fight.
A win for Dubois will put him in position to challenge unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed championship. It would be a rematch of their fight two years ago on August 26, 2023, which Dubois lost by ninth-round knockout in Wroclaw, Poland. He dropped Usyk earlier in the fight in the fifth round with a body shot, but the referee said it was a low blow. It didn’t seem low to many fans.
“Don’t count your chickens.” I don’t think Daniel Dubois will necessarily beat Joseph Parker,” Eddie Hearn told DAZN.
Hearn said he wants Jai Opetaia to fight Usyk for his belts. It won’t be good for Eddie if Dubois beats Parker and faces Usyk next because it would mess up his plans for the Usyk-Opetai fight. It would be interesting to know what Hearn thinks about the Dubois-Parker fight as he has too much to gain if Dubois loses.
Ring Rust
“By the time the fight date comes, I’ll be out of the ring for a year (11 months). It doesn’t affect me. “I’ve been training and now that I have a big fight, I want to show something different in the ring,” said Joseph Parker. iFL TV about his match against Dubois.
“I want to show polish, aggressiveness, power, speed; I want to show everything,” Parker continued. “A lot is on the line.” I got the chance to fight for the belt again. There’s a difference in fighting for it then (December 10, 2016, against Andy Ruiz Jr.) and winning it (the WBO heavyweight title). If I win it now, I will appreciate it more and want to keep it.
“Now I’m living life and I love what I do.” Then I was just learning about myself and my life. I had a belt and some money, and I enjoyed myself. Now, I have a wife and children, and I am much more mature. Win This (IBF Title); I want to stick with it and then move on to bigger and better things,” Parker said.
Being out of the ring for 11 months isn’t a good thing that the 32-year-old Parker is trying to paint because he didn’t look great in his last fight. He’s going up against a young, active fighter, Dubois, and it’s going to be tough for him.
Parker wouldn’t say why he hasn’t fought in the past 11 months, but maybe there wasn’t enough money to keep him active. He got some nice paydays in his last two fights against Zhilei Zhang and Deontai Wilder. Parker needs established fighters like Dubois to continue to get the same type of test.
Parker’s KO prediction
“I think I can (knock Dubois out), but he’s shown a good chin, he’s shown grit and determination and fights when it’s been tough, but I believe I can,” Parker said of his belief he can knock Dubois out.
Parker is unlikely to come close to knocking Dubois out on February 22, and if he does, it will end badly for him. As Parker has transformed his fighting style into a slick boxer, he is not in the pocket long enough to score knockouts.
That’s why his last two fights went the distance of 12 rounds against Zhilei Zhang and Deontai Wilder. Parker was lucky to get a decision against Zhang in his last fight on March 8, going down twice and having to box to survive.
The biggest heavyweight battle of the year so far. February 22. Dubois vs. Parker in Riyadh 🔥🥊#Riadhseason #duboisvparker pic.tvitter.com/ARlMukbucZ
— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) January 4, 2025