Daily Times

Briton Daniel Dubois will defend his world heavyweight title against former champion Joseph Parker in Saudi Arabia on 22 February.

Dubois, 27, made a spectacular first defence of his IBF belt by beating Anthony Joshua in September. New Zealand’s Parker, 32, held the WBO title between 2016 and 2018 before losing it to Joshua. Also on the card in Riyadh, Artur Beterbiev will defend his undisputed light-heavyweight crown in a rematch with fellow Russian Dmitry Bivol.

Undefeated Londoner Hamzah Sheeraz will challenge for his maiden world title against WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames, while British light-heavyweights Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith will meet for Buatsi’s WBO interim title. Shakur Stevenson will put his WBC lightweight belt on the line against Floyd Schofield and Zhilei Zhang faces Agit Kabayel for the interim WBC heavyweight title to complete the blockbuster card. Dubois captured the interim title with an impressive win over Filip Hrgovic last year and was elevated to world champion when Oleksandr Usyk vacated the belt.

The Londoner legitimised himself as a world champion when he upset the odds by dismantling two-time champion Joshua inside five rounds at Wembley Stadium. Parker earns a title shot after a four-fight winning streak, including impressive wins over Deontay Wilder and Zhang in his past two fights. In October, Beterbiev defeated Bivol by majority decision to become the first undisputed light-heavyweight champion since 2002. Many ringside observers felt Bivol, who suffered a first career defeat, should have been awarded the decision. Former super-middleweight world champion Smith was stopped by Beterbiev for the unified light-heavyweight titles in January but returned to winning ways against Carlos Galvan on Saturday to earn a shot against the undefeated Buatsi, who claimed the WBO interim title on the Joshua-Dubois undercard.