Daniel Dubois, the IBF Heavyweight World Champion, is getting ready to face some tough competition for his title. The 27-year-old British boxer will defend his belt against Joseph Parker on February 22, 2025.
Dubois had a great run in 2024. He beat Jarrell Miller and then won the interim belt by defeating Filip Hrgovic. When Oleksandr Usyk gave up the title, Dubois got upgraded to full champion. In his first title defense, he knocked out Anthony Joshua in five rounds.
Now, Martin Bakole wants a shot at Dubois' title. Bakole's trainer, Billy Nelson, claims his fighter has already gotten the better of Dubois in sparring. Nelson says Bakole wasn't even at his best when it happened.
"Martin wasn't fully fit when he sparred Daniel, about 70% fit, and schooled him. Stopped him, made him quit and broke his nose. It's fact. Martin's already told people what happened. I was there. Barry McGuigan was there. I'm not telling lies."
But Frank Warren, who promotes Dubois, says the broken nose story isn't true. Some people think Bakole shouldn't have talked about what happened in sparring.
Bakole made a big statement in August 2024 when he stopped Jared Anderson. Now, he's been told to fight Efe Ajagba in a final eliminator match.
Nelson thinks Dubois might try to avoid fighting Bakole:
"Usyk will not fight Martin and it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if Daniel vacated rather than fight Martin as well. They've been in the ring with each other before. Martin will stop Usyk and he'll obliterate Daniel Dubois."
Bakole has also claimed he stopped Usyk in sparring, which he mentioned on Sky Sports. Nelson backs up this claim:
"And he's also stopped Usyk as he's told you before, albeit I wasn't there. But why would he come out publicly, live on Sky Sports, and say that he stopped Usyk if he didn't? Either way, what a fantastic fight that would be. Usyk's number one in the world for a reason."
As Dubois gets ready for his next fight, it looks like he'll have plenty of challengers lining up for a shot at his title in the future.
