Daniel Dubois to Defend Heavyweight Title

Daniel Dubois will defend his world heavyweight title against former champion Joseph Parker in Saudi Arabia on February 22. Dubois, 27, impressed in his first title defense by beating Anthony Joshua in September. New Zealand’s Parker, 32, held the WBO title from 2016 to 2018 before losing it to Joshua. In addition to the heavyweight clash, the Riyadh card will feature Artur Beterbiev defending his undisputed light-heavyweight crown in a rematch with Dmitry Bivol.

Londoner Hamzah Sheeraz, unbeaten in 21 bouts will challenge WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames for his first world title while British light-heavyweights Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith will square off for Buatsi’s WBO interim title. Shakur Stevenson will defend his WBC lightweight belt against Floyd Schofield and Zhilei Zhang faces Agit Kabayel for the interim WBC heavyweight title.

Daniel Dubois, who became world champion after Oleksandr Usyk vacated the title, stunned many by knocking out Joshua in five rounds at Wembley. Parker earned this title shot following a four-fight win streak including victories over Deontay Wilder and Zhang. Beterbiev, who became the first undisputed light-heavyweight champion since 2002 by defeating Bivol in October will meet his Russian rival again.

Smith after losing to Beterbiev in January is back in form and will face Buatsi for the interim title. Sheeraz, 25, has an undefeated record with 17 knockouts and will challenge Adames for the WBC middleweight crown. Analysts note that Dubois is on a high after his dominant win over Joshua but Parker rejuvenated by his trainer Andy Lee, remains a serious challenge. The event is shaping up to be a major night for boxing with potential breakout performances especially from Sheeraz.