Daniel Dubois’ heavyweight boxing world title showdown with Joseph Parker this weekend is reportedly in jeopardy with the defending champion suffering with an illness.
Englishman Dubois is set to make the second defence of his IBF world title in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night against mandatory challenger Parker after destroying former two-time world champion Anthony Joshua in front of 96,000 fans at Wembley back in September. The heavyweight tussle is the co-main event to the undisputed light-heavyweight rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, but The Ring Magazine now claim that the fight could be called off at the last minute.
They report that Dubois’ illness is currently being assessed by a doctor and that the Riyadh Season event’s promoters are currently working on bringing in a replacement to face Parker in the event that the defending champion has to pull out. It comes just days after American Floyd Schofield had to pull out of his world title tilt against undefeated star Shakur Stevenson on the same bill after the British Boxing Board of Control ruled that he was not in a suitable condition to fight.
Schofield has been pictured in hospital and has since bizarrely accused Stevenson and his team of ‘poisoning him’ on fight week. Fortunately for the promoters a deal has been struck for Brit Josh Padley to take Schofield’s place and take on Stevenson after he impressed Saudi boxing matchmaker Turki Alalshikh with his upset victory against Mark Chamberlain on the Joshua v Dubois undercard in September.
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