Dubois to defend world heavyweight title against Parker in Saudi Arabia
Al Jazeera
Dubois’ clash with Parker headlines a stacked boxing lineup with a Beterbiev-Bivol rematch the co-main event in Riyadh.
The International Boxing Federation’s (IBF) world heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois will defend his title against Joseph Parker on February 22 in Riyadh, event organisers in Saudi Arabia have confirmed.
The fight, announced Tuesday, will be the co-main event for the undisputed world light heavyweight title rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol in a seven-bout card announced by Turki Alalshikh, the head of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority.
Dubois, who was awarded the belt in June after then-undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine relinquished it, made his first successful defence against fellow British boxer Anthony Joshua on September 21.
The 27-year-old from London will face New Zealand’s Parker, the World Boxing Organization’s (WBO) interim heavyweight champion, in a bid to keep the title and raise his pedigree as the heavyweight champion.
The fight is part of the Riyadh Season event titled The Last Crescendo, which will be headlined by the rematch between Canadian-Russian fighter Beterbiev and Russian boxer Bivol for the world light heavyweight title.
