Daniel Dubois has had a change of heart about his next fight and is no longer pursuing Oleksandr Usyk.
Dubois is the current IBF heavyweight champion. He was elevated to that status after his KO win over Filip Hrgovic back in June of last year, six months after an impressive win over Jarrell Miller.
He backed that up in September with a superb defence of the title against Anthony Joshua who he knocked down in the first round and then stopped inside five.
His plan was to then fit in a voluntary defence against former WBO champion Joseph Parker back in February, however ‘DDD’ fell ill late in the day and had to withdraw from the contest.
It was expected he might instead now go after Usyk for a shot at undisputed honours. The pair have already fought once back in August of 2023.
Dubois started well and had him down on the canvas, though it was ruled to be a low blow and the Ukrainian recovered and stopped Dubois inside 9 rounds. It seems the Brit has decided against that route for now and will instead look to honour his fight with Parker.
Speaking to Podlounge UK, Dubois explained why.
“I want to run it back [with Parker]. If they can get that fight on, that’s the fight I want next. It’s unfinished business and it’s left a bitter taste in my mouth.
I want to fight them all. I want to fight Parker definitely. Hopefully Turki might hear this and make it happen in England at Wembley or something. I want to fight Parker, that’s unfinished business for me. If not Parker, Usyk or AJ, these are the guys I want next.’
Parker is another man in form in the heavyweight division having beaten Zhilei Zhang, Deontay Wilder and Martin Bakole in his last three outings.
