After an early setback in his professional career, suffering a shock defeat to Joe Joyce after taking a knee in the 10th round of their 2020 clash behind closed doors in his hometown ofLondon, Daniel Dubois’ stock has arguably never been higher than it is today.
The Greenwich native has spent the best part of four years rebuilding his reputation after being branded a quitter following the disappointing Joyce defeat and is now the reigning IBF heavyweight champion after stunning Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium last year.
Up next for ‘Triple D’ is a testing bout with Joseph Parker at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on February 22.
The tough New Zealander is on something of a redemption mission himself, beating Deontay Wilder and, more recently, Zhilei Zhang for the WBO interim title.
The Dubois vs Parker odds are firmly in the 27-year-old’s favour, and while the former heavyweight champion certainly isn’t going to be an easy fish to fry later this month, Dubois seems to only be getting better with each passing fight and should have it takes to carry on his upward trajectory.
The big question is: What does the future hold for Dubois beyond the first defence of his IBF belt against Parker? Well, the most obvious answer is a rematch with current WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBO title holder Oleksandr Usyk to become the undisputed champion of the Blue Riband division.
Dubois will still feel hard done by the outcome after he was defeated by the Ukrainian in Poland in 2023.
The Brit appeared to drop Usyk to the canvas in the fifth round, but the referee deemed it to be a low blow—allowing his opponent more than five minutes to recover.
‘The Cat’ regained his composure and took control of the fight, dropping Dubois with a barrage of punches in the eighth round before ultimately putting the bout to bed with a knockout in the ninth, spelling his second career loss.
Dubois stormed the ring following Usyk’s second win over Tyson Fury before Christmas, claiming that he wants his ‘revenge’ for what happened a couple of years ago. If he beats Parker in Riyadh, we’re sure Usyk would have no problem throwing it back with DDD, but the boxing odds will be heavily in the Ukrainian’s favour.
While a rematch with Usyk would be Dubois’s best-case scenario after Parker, the politics of boxing mean that things are never that straightforward. So, who else could he face in the meantime? Well, Anthony Joshua could be on the hunt for an opponent in the summer after Fury’s retirement at the start of the year.
Despite his lacklustre performances in recent times, ‘AJ’ doesn’t appear willing to hang up his gloves anytime soon, and he would love a shot at redemption against Dubois, having failed to right his losses against Usyk—clawing back something of his damaged reputation.
Another potential challenger for Dubois this year is hard-hitter Martin Bakole. The 21-1 Congolese heavyweight, who claims to have knocked out both Triple D and Usyk in sparring, will face Efe Ajaba in May to become the mandatory challenger for Dubois’ IBF belt.
All the signs point toward a rematch with Usyk, and that’s the bout that most boxing fans would prefer to see as the combat sport continues to come under scrutiny due to the rise of influencers stealing the spotlight.