Joseph Parker is considered a potential opponent for IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois to defend on February 22 in Riyadh. Dubois might be too powerful, young and rugged for the 32-year-old Parker, who has become a defensive fighter.
Anthony Joshua does not seem interested in taking the rematch with Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) at this time due to injuries from which he is still recovering, and he would not be ready in time.
Former WBO champion Parker (35-3, 23 KOs) put himself in a position to challenge for the title by defeating Zhilei Zhang and Deontay Wilder in back-to-back fights.
While many fans got excited about those fights, Parker wasn’t all that great in any of them. It was more of a case of his opponents being very old and gunshy, they didn’t throw. Zhang, 40, looked awful, rarely throwing anything and passing out after five rounds. As for Wilder, 39, he wasn’t throwing anything and just moving.
Parker’s best wins in the last two years were Wilder and Zhang. Those guys were too old to clearly understand where he stands and if he’s improved since his 11th round loss to Joe Joyce on September 24, 2022.
I watched those three fights and I didn’t see Parker improving from the Joyce fight. The only change is that he fought fighters who didn’t throw back punches due to his advanced age.
When Zhang threw punches, he dropped Parker twice, and was close to being knocked out in the eighth round. If Zhang had continued to throw in the eight, he would have taken out Parker easily. If you put Dubois in Zhang’s place that night, Parker would have been kicked out. He wouldn’t have made it to the eighth round because he’s too chinny and shy.
“Dubois is confused by boxers, and Joseph Parker has many ways to win,” said Chris Algieri to Probox TV on the potential fight between IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker on February 22.
Algieri is not saying that Dubois was robbed of a knockout against Oleksandr Usyk last year and should have won this fight. But even if you want to say that he deserved the loss, he is still much better in his recent fights.
“The guy has a lot of versatility, and I don’t think Dubois has seen anything close to this other than Usyk, and you saw how he presented himself. It was a lot of frustration, and it seemed to me that he left,” he said Algiers.
