Saturday’s big show in Riyadh may be about to take another hit, as IBF heavyweight titleholder Daniel Dubois has fallen ill and may be out of his defense against Joseph Parker.
Ariel Helwani is reporting that the fight is off. Sky Sports have said that Dubois is being evaluated, but that Parker will face a late replacement opponent if and when Dubois is pulled.
The show already saw Floyd Schofield withdraw from his fight with WBC lightweight titlist Shakur Stevenson. Schofield has since been replaced by Josh Padley.
Dubois (22-2, 21 KO) would be making the first defense of the belt he fully won last September, knocking out Anthony Joshua in a statement-making performance at Wembley Stadium. He had been IBF interim champion after his win over Filip Hrgovic three months prior.
Parker (35-3, 23 KO) is a former WBO titleholder who is currently on the real best run of his career, with consecutive wins over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang, coming off the canvas twice to beat Zhang by majority decision just over a year ago in his most recent fight.
The show is still strong either way, headlined by the undisputed light heavyweight championship rematch between champion Artur Beterbiev and challenger Dmitry Bivol, plus Carlos Adames vs Hamzah Sheeraz for Adames’ WBC middleweight title, Joshua Buatsi vs Callum Smith for an interim light heavyweight title, Zhilei Zhang vs Agit Kabayel for an interim heavyweight title, and Vergil Ortiz Jr vs Israil Madrimov for an interim super welterweight belt, along with Stevenson vs Padley.