Daniel Dubois puts his IBF World Heavyweight Title on the line next month against former champion Joseph Parker – a battle of the form men in the division.
To get here, Dubois handed Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic their first defeats to pick up the interim belt and was subsequently elevated to full champion when Oleksandr Usyk vacated the title. He legitimised his status with an excellent knockout win over Anthony Joshua.
Meanwhile, Parker has beaten two dangermen in his last two bouts – completely outclassing Deontay Wilder for a wide unanimous decision before grinding out a hard points win over Zhilei Zhang after being knocked down twice.
China’s towering southpaw Zhang – who has since beaten Wilder himself – had previously told Box Nation he had a ‘gut feeling’ Dubois would retain his belt.
“I like both fighters. I respect both fighters. But somewhere in my gut feeling is telling me that Dubois is going to win this one. I admire his style. I like how he approaches fights. I like Parker as well but subconsciously I believe Dubois is going to win it.”
Speaking more recently to Fight Hub TV, Zhang changed his mind and branded the world title fight ‘a true 50/50’ – perhaps stemming from the theory that Dubois has his sights set on an undisputed fight with Oleksandr Usyk in the future and is potentially overlooking Parker in the process.
“It’s hard to predict. I think this is a truly 50/50 fight. I like both of these fighters. I have to say one thing, I’ll tell Dubois not to overlook Joseph Parker.”
The fight takes place on the bumper February 22 card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with an undisputed light-heavyweight rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol topping the bill. Zhang also returns on the card, facing Agit Kabayel for the WBC Interim belt.
