Kiwi heavyweight boxer Joseph Parker appears to be on the brink of another world title challenge, this time against Englishman Daniel Dubois.
Parker was denied an opportunity on the Tyson Fury v Oleksandr Usyk world unification fight card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on December 22 NZT, but instead appears set for a bigger prize — a main event showdown against IBF champion Dubois in the city on February 23 NZT.
Parker's next assignment is unlikely to be officially announced prior to the Fury v Usyk rematch but well-respected boxing writer Dan Rafael stated today that a Dubois v Parker fight will headline a card which will include Artur Beterbiev defending his undisputed light heavyweight title in a rematch against Dmitry Bivol.
Should the fight be confirmed it would be a fitting reward for Parker, who won the WBO world heavyweight championship in Auckland in December 2016, and who has seen his stocks rise significantly since linking with coach Andy Lee and trainer George Lockhart.
Parker stunned the boxing world when dominating former WBC world champion Deontay Wilder in Riyadh almost 12 months ago and continued his run against the odds when beating the similarly feared Zhilei Zhang over 12 rounds in the same city in March. The majority decision victory for Parker was only Zhang's second defeat as a professional.
The 32-year-old had hoped to stay active and capitalise on his momentum but instead the machinations of the modern professional boxing world, and the whims of new ringmaster Turki Al-Sheikh, an advisor to the royal court of Saudi, conspired against him.
His luck appears to have turned now, though, and Parker will like his chances against the 27-year-old Dubois, who won the vacant IBF world title with a stunning knockout victory over Anthony Joshua in London in September. Dubois' next fight will be his first defence of the title.
Dubois has a 22-2 record as a professional (Parker is 35-3) and possesses immense power but is not without his flaws.
He was beaten up by Joe Joyce, a man who also dominated Parker in their fight two years ago, and also lost to current IBO, WBC and WBO world champion Usyk.
Parker and Dubois are of similar dimensions — both weighed just over 112kg for their last fights — but the Englishman may have a slight height and reach advantage.
Parker, who has been focused on weight gain recently, had travelled to Ireland for a training camp on the assumption he would be fighting next month but has returned to Auckland to continue his preparations and will likely head back to Dublin in the New Year for a camp should he get the green light.
Parker is ranked as the WBO "interim" champion — effectively second on the ladder behind Usyk — and the influential Ring Magazine ranks him as the fourth best heavyweight in the world behind Usyk, Fury and Dubois.
Another defeat for Fury in Riyadh next month would put retirement on the cards for the so-called Gypsy King and Parker could give the division another huge shake-up with a win over Dubois.
Parker was originally scheduled to fight Zhang in a rematch but had little confidence that fight would happen.
"My gut says different fight," he told 1News in March.
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