Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker have defied odds, science and sense to reach each other
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The heavyweights were written off more than once. Now, they prepare to face each other in an IBF title fight. When Daniel Dubois touches gloves with Joseph Parker in Riyadh next month, it will be the latest fight in the fairytale revival of the dreaming pair.
![[Joseph Parker’s domination of Deontay Wilder took him back to the big time]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/12/23/23/SEI185076035.jpg)
The largest and most alarming scrap heap in boxing is in the heavyweight division, and both Parker and Dubois have flirted with the dirty pile over the last few years. The heap makes one-time contenders invisible, but Dubois and Parker have defied the odds, the science, and the sense to remain relevant.
![[Daniel Dubois obliterated Anthony Joshua at Wembley in September]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/15/20/72d5ca4d83a91a86bdf941d5ee8a7754Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM0MzcxNjkw-2.78463507.jpg)
Since the summer of 2023, their fortunes on both sides of the ropes have changed dramatically, and now they meet in one of the best heavyweight title fights for a long, long time – in the opening of the 2025 Riyadh Season on 22 February. Dubois is the current IBF champion and Parker’s form is irresistible; it is a great match-up.
Perhaps Dubois has had more to prove in the last year or so. In 2020, he was stopped in round 10 by Joe Joyce, and in 2023, he lost a world title fight with Oleksandr Usyk in round nine. “After the Usyk fight and the Joyce fight, people were quick to say I was finished,” said Dubois. “I had to stick with it and prove everyone wrong. I knew I could be the champion.”.
The harsh truth is that Dubois had to answer claims that he had quit in both fights. It was a long road back from the defeat by Usyk in Poland, in August 2023; that loss reminded people of the loss to Joyce, as Dubois finished both fights on one knee. The scrap heap was calling, and there was no chance of a few gentle fights in obscurity to build his confidence.
