(Reuters) – Daniel Dubois will defend his International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight world title against New Zealand’s Joseph Parker in Riyadh on Feb. 22, organisers said late on Monday. Dubois took the interim belt in June by beating Filip Hrgovic and was upgraded to champion when Oleksandr Usyk vacated the title due to his rematch […]
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Boxing-Dubois to defend IBF heavyweight title against Parker in February
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(Reuters) – Daniel Dubois will defend his International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight world title against New Zealand’s Joseph Parker in Riyadh on Feb. 22, organisers said late on Monday.
Dubois took the interim belt in June by beating Filip Hrgovic and was upgraded to champion when Oleksandr Usyk vacated the title due to his rematch clause with Tyson Fury.
Dubois then defended his title in September with a knockout win over fellow Briton Anthony Joshua at Wembley.
Former world champion Parker, 32, claimed the World Boxing Organization (WBO) heavyweight title in 2016 by defeating Mexican Andy Ruiz. He lost the title to Joshua in 2018.
Recent victories have propelled Parker back into the heavyweight title picture, particularly after securing a dominant win over Deontay Wilder in December last year.
He has held the WBO interim heavyweight title since March after defeating Zhang Zhilei.
The Riyadh card will also feature a rematch between undisputed light-heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Russian-born Canadian Beterbiev took the undisputed light-heavyweight title in October with a majority points decision over Russian Bivol in Saudi Arabia.
(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)