Parker vs. Dubois: Will 11 months out of the ring hurt Parker?

Joseph Parker will attempt to become a two-time heavyweight champion on February 22, challenging IBF belt holder Daniel Dubois in their joint bout on the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 card in Riyadh.

Parker’s return

Former WBO heavyweight champion Parker (35-3, 23 KOs) turned his career around recently, beating 40-year-olds Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang in back-to-back fights to earn this title shot against Dubois ( 22-2, 21 KOs) on the Turki Al-Shiekh card.

Dubois is at his best, powerful and dangerous. This won’t be the piece of cake that Parker had in his last two fights against old men. It’s a great story that Parker turned his career around, but this time he’s up against a young, live dog. Dubois is not exaggerated.

If Parker had a better chin, he would have a good chance of winning, but he doesn’t take well, as we saw in his last fight against Zhang on March 8, 2024. Parker went down twice in that fight.

A win for Dubois will put him in position to fight unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed championship. This would be a rematch of their fight two years ago on August 26, 2023, which Dubois lost by ninth-round knockout in Wroclaw, Poland. He had dropped Usyk before the fight in the fifth round with a body shot, but the referee said it was a low blow. It didn’t seem low to many fans.

“Don’t count your chickens. I don’t think Daniel Dubois necessarily beats Joseph Parker,” Eddie Hearn told DAZN.

Hearn said he wants Jai Opetaia to fight Usyk for his belts. It won’t be good for Eddie if Dubois defeats Parker and faces Usyk next, because that would disrupt his plans for a Usyk vs. Opetaia fight. It would be interesting to hear what Hearn thinks about the Dubois-Parker fight because he has too much to gain if Dubois loses.

Ring Rust

“When the date of the fight comes, I will have been out of the ring for a year (11 months). It does not affect me. I have been training, and now that I have a big fight, I want to show something different in the ring,” he say Joseph Parker to iFL TV about his match against Dubois.

“I want to show cunning, aggression, power, speed; I want to show everything,” Parker continued. “There’s a lot at stake. I got a chance to fight for the belt again. There’s a difference between fighting for it (December 10, 2016, against Andy Ruiz Jr.) and winning it (WBO heavyweight title). If I win it now, I will appreciate it more and want to hold on to it.

“Now, I’m living life and I love what I do. Back then, I was just learning about myself and my life. I had a belt and some money, and I had fun. Now I have a wife and kids, and I’m so much more mature. Win that (IBF title); I want to keep it and then move on to bigger and better things,” Parker said.

Being out of the ring for 11 months is no good for the 32-year-old Parker to try to paint it as he didn’t look great in his last fight. He is facing a young and active fighter, Dubois, and it will be difficult for him.

Parker wouldn’t say why he didn’t fight in the last 11 months, but it could be that the money wasn’t there to stay active. He’s had a couple of good paydays in his last two fights against Zhilei Zhang and Deontay Wilder. Parker needs notable fighters like Dubois to keep getting that same kind of mass.

Parker KO Prediction

“I think I can (take out Dubois), but he’s shown a good chin, he’s shown grit and determination and fight when the going got tough, but I think I can,” Parker said of his belief that he can KO Dubois.

Parker is unlikely to come close to knocking Dubois out on February 22, and if he tries, it will end badly. With how Parker has transformed his fighting style into a slick boxer, he’s not in the pocket long enough to score knockouts.

That’s why his last two fights have gone the 12-round distance against Zhilei Zhang and Deontay Wilder. Parker was lucky to get a decision against Zhang in his last fight on March 8, he was knocked down twice and needed to box to survive.

The biggest heavyweight battle of the year so far. February 22 Dubois vs Parker in Riyadh 🔥🥊#Riyadh season #duboisvparker pic.twitter.com/ARlMuqbucZ

— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) January 4, 2025