Joseph Parker plans to beat Daniel Dubois and targets undisputed heavyweight fight against Oleksandr Usyk or Tyson Fury
Joseph Parker fights Daniel Dubois for the IBF world title in February; New Zealand’s Parker then aims to challenge the Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury rematch winner for the undisputed heavyweight championship; Watch Usyk-Fury II on December 21 live on Sky Sports Box Office
Thursday 5 December 2024 17:06, UK
Joseph Parker has a plan. He is determined to beat Daniel Dubois, become a two-time heavyweight champion and ultimately box for the undisputed world heavyweight title.
Parker will challenge Dubois for the IBF title in February, but first Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury will box for the WBC, WBO and WBA heavyweight world championships in their December 21 rematch, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
Promoter Frank Warren has suggested that Dubois could face the Usyk vs Fury 2 winner in 2025, but Parker and his team are convinced that the New Zealander can upset the IBF champion.
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"You look at the names on his resume, names like Carlos Takam, Andy Ruiz Jr, Derek Chisora twice, Dillian Whyte, Anthony Joshua, Joe Joyce, Zhilei Zhang and Deontay Wilder, he's probably fought hundreds more rounds at the highest level than Daniel Dubois has," Parker's promoter David Higgins told Sky Sports.
"He's only 32 years old but he's a veteran. So I think we've got the edge in terms of experience under pressure at that level. Obviously Joseph's on the up and at his peak coming off two stunning victories over Deontay Wilder and Zhang."
Dubois did put in a tremendous showing last time out when he knocked out Anthony Joshua.
"He would never underestimate Daniel Dubois, who's shown some formidable ability as well and is also on a rampage, if you like, having destroyed Anthony Joshua," Higgins acknowledged.
"Although we think Joshua might have made Dubois look better than he is. That wasn't Anthony Joshua at his best. That was an Anthony Joshua that looked a bit tentative and didn't really want to be there. Certainly made Dubois look a formidable force.
"We think Joseph will be a handful for Dubois and will win on the night."
Parker is determined to win and then eventually fight for all the belts that Usyk and Fury will contest later this month.
"Joseph wants to become undisputed heavyweight world champion. He's going to give it everything until the day he retires so I'd be lying if I didn't say that was the goal," Higgins said.
"He wants to beat Dubois and then he wants to fight whoever has the other belts and try and unify."
Usyk vs Fury II - who wins?
In the long run, if Parker is victorious, he will target the Usyk-Fury December 21 winner. That rematch though is finely balanced.
"It's very hard to call that fight. I think Usyk's one of the greatest boxers in history. And so is Tyson Fury," Higgins said.
"You saw what happened in the second Fury-Wilder fight, where Tyson Fury bulked up, just dominated Wilder and destroyed him.
"I think Tyson might have had a wake-up call from the first fight and if he comes in focused in that mindset, it could be all over. He could win the fight.
"But you never know, Usyk's a technical genius, an assassin. It's a fascinating match-up and very worthy of a rematch."
Don't miss Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury II live on Sky Sports Box Office on December 21.
