The so-called “greatest boxing card of all time” suffered a seismic blow Thursday morning, just over 48 hours before fight time.
IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois was forced to withdraw from his title defense against New Zealand’s Joseph Parker due to undisclosed medical issues.
The pair were scheduled to clash for Dubois’ world title as the chief supporting bout to the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol undisputed light heavyweight title rematch, which takes place Saturday afternoon in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Within two hours of the news breaking, a replacement opponent had already been secured and announced — and it’s straight out of a fairytale.
Martin Bakole will step in for Dubois to face Parker in a non-title bout on the undercard.
Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs), considered by some as a fighter many would prefer to avoid, upset American heavyweight contender Jared Anderson this past August in Los Angeles. Bakole ultimately proved too powerful for Anderson, finishing him off with a vicious knockout in the fifth round. Bakole was scheduled to take on Efe Ajagba in an IBF heavyweight title final eliminator on May 2, but that matchup will likely now be canceled.
Parker (35-3, 23 KOs) has won five straight fights since being knocked out by Joe Joyce in September 2022. The former WBO champion is coming off decision wins over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang.
Parker-Bakole is a tremendous matchup in its own right and an almost unfathomable save by Riyadh Season on just two days’ notice. On practically any other boxing card in the world, a withdrawal like this would have led to the entire bout being scrapped.
Saturday’s card in Riyadh had already suffered one change on Tuesday evening when the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) pulled Floyd Schofield from his bout with WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson due to medical issues.
Unbeaten British fighter Josh Padley (15-0, 4 KOs) steps in on less than four days’ notice to challenge Stevenson. Padley shocked the boxing world when he dropped and outboxed Mark Chamberlain for a decision win this past September at Wembley Stadium.
