DANIEL DUBOIS' dad has opened up on just how bad his viral infection was after the Brit was forced to withdraw from his bout with Joseph Parker. Dubois, 27, pulled out of his lucrative world title fight just two days before he was due to step in the ring in Riyadh, citing illness as the reason.
![[Portrait of British heavyweight boxer Daniel Dubois with his father.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/daniel-dubois-british-heavyweight-boxer-934762759.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Triple D was swiftly replaced by Congolese puncher Martin Bakole, who was battered by Parker on such short notice. Dubois would almost certainly have put up more of a fight, but was advised against gloving up after a consultation with a doctor. The IBF champion's dad, Dave, told Ring Magazine exactly what happened.
![[Daniel Dubois at a media workout.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/daniel-dubois-trains-ahead-ibf-973365686.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
He said: "Fight week was going well until he became ill. Everything was perfect, then he started feeling unwell a couple days before. "He had a virus, he had swollen glands and an ear infection so the doctor told him ‘I wouldn’t fight if I was you’ he said ‘you can fight, but after three rounds you’ll be feeling it’.
![[Joseph Parker training for a boxing match.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/joseph-parker-trains-ahead-ibf-973501148_bbcfe9.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
"He’s had these problems before, swollen glands, viral infection, it’s been happening for about eight years and they usually last three of four days but he’s been alright after that. "With this it was just bad timing that it happened two days before the fight. Obviously it was very frustrating for him and us.".
Dubois isn't planning on returning to face Parker either, with his dad revealing he has something even bigger in mind. CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS. He said: "Next, he wants Usyk, it’s frustrating about the Parker fight but he couldn’t fight with an infection. Usyk is who we're going after next.".
Parker has taken a different view of Dubois' withdrawal, labelling the whole ordeal as "weird" and sparking theories about what happened. During an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, he said: ''It feels weird because [Daniel Dubois] was at the public workout and then, just like that, he got real ill.
