Daniel Dubois & Joseph Parker Showdown
Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker are both critical to developing the heavyweight division. What heavyweight boxing news has shown over the past few years is that Parker and Dubois have threatened to upset the order at the top of the division. Dubois turned heads in September when he knocked out Anthony Joshua in London.
Joseph Parker, 32, has rebuilt his reputation as a top contender by upsetting Deontay Wilder in 2023. He followed that up with a win over another top contender, Zhilei Zhang. Parker and Dubois will meet on Feb. 22 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Middle East has become the center of boxing over the past few years.
This is another heavyweight contest that should excite boxing fans. Dubois would like to have another shot at Usyk. If he beats Parker convincingly, it will be hard to deny him the opportunity.
Who Else Will be Fighting?
The card isn’t 100 percent complete yet, but there will be some other exciting fights to accompany the heavyweight main event. Zhang will battle Germany’s Agit Kabayel in a 12-round WBC interim heavyweight championship bout. There is also some chatter that Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol may fight in a rematch for the light heavyweight championship.
Beterbiev won the first version of that fight this year by a controversial decision. As is always the case in boxing, a split decision isn’t necessarily bad for business. There is great interest in the two fighters having another battle with each other.
Dubois’ Cathartic Win
Dubois already had the opportunity to fight for the WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight championships back in August 2023. He lost in the worst way possible. Not only did Dubois lose to Usyk by ninth-round knockout, but the conversation following the fight wasn’t good for Dubois.
During the fight with Usyk, Dubois got hit with a body shot that he felt was below the belt. Upon video review, online boxing news shows that there was nothing illegal about Usyk’s punch. Despite this, Dubois still protested the result.
It was a difficult moment for Dubois, who had just suffered only his second career loss. If Dubois had been more composed, he may have earned more respect from the boxing community. But beating Joshua helped turn the perception.
Joshua picked up the vacant IBF heavyweight title. He is 22-2 in his career. With 21 knockouts, Dubois may be able to get a shot at the undisputed belt based on what happens in the fight with Fury and Usyk.
Parker Hasn’t Backed Down From Anyone
Parker and Dubois have one thing in common: both have suffered losses to Joe Joyce. Since Parker’s defeat to Joyce in September 2022, he has put together five straight victories. This may be the best stretch of Parker’s career.
Parker turned heads with a unanimous decision win over Deontay Wilder in December 2023. But Parker’s win wasn’t just an ordinary victory. Parker demolished the former champion. Then Parker showed enormous heart in his next fight. Zhang knocked him down twice, but Parker did enough in the other rounds to steal a decision win and pick up the WBO interim heavyweight title.
Parker started his career by winning his first 24 bouts. Eventually, Parker hit a wall when he dropped a pair of decisions to Joshua and Dillian Whyte. It took Parker a few years to overcome the losses on his record. While the loss to Joyce threatened to do a lot of damage to his career, Parker continued to keep marching forward.
Shaking up the Top 10
Parker and Dubois’ recent success has shaken up the top 10 in boxing. Before Dubois’ win over Joshua, he was sitting in sixth place in the rankings. Dubois has now climbed up to No. 3.
This is an exciting position for Dubois to be in. He is under 30 and has plenty of time ahead of him to fight. After Dubois lost to Usyk, there was audio picked up of Usyk telling Dubois that he has the potential to be champion.
With a win over Parker, Dubois should get another opportunity to take on the Ukrainian star. Usyk’s dominance of the heavyweight division has been a little surprising. Usyk isn’t the most physically imposing boxer, but he has such exceptional skill that he has climbed across one of boxing’s most prestigious divisions.
Parker May Have His Last Chance
Parker isn’t old by any means. However, before Parker upset Wilder, he was viewed as a reliably consistent heavyweight, but he wasn’t seen as championship material. With a win over Dubois, it would be hard to deny that Parker doesn’t belong in that conversation.
One thing that should stand out on Parker’s resume is that he has a solid chin. During Parker’s last two fights, he had to take on two powerful punchers, Wilder and Zhang. Zhang could floor Parker twice, but he absorbed the punishment and battled back valiantly.
This will be a fun matchup to watch. The heavyweight division is building a strong lineup of top contenders. If these men continue to improve, there could be a lot of fun fights in the division’s future.
Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.
By Dean McHugh.
