Daniel Dubois won't defend his IBF Heavyweight World Title against Joseph Parker in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The British fighter had to pull out due to illness, leaving organizers scrambling to find a replacement.
Dubois grabbed the belt with a shocking win over Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium last September. He knocked out Joshua in five rounds, setting up this fight with Parker as his second title defense.
Now, promoters are working hard to keep Parker on the card. They don't want his training camp to go to waste and hope to save what they're calling "the fight card of the century."
A couple of names have popped up as possible replacements. Lawrence Okolie and David Adeleye seem to be the front-runners. But there's another fighter who's ready to jump in at a moment's notice.
Martin Bakole's manager, Billy Nelson, took to social media to let everyone know his fighter is ready to go. Nelson wrote:
"Martin Bakole has his bags ready @Turki_alalshikh we are ready to replace Daniel no problem"
He followed that up with another message:
"We have instructed our promoter to tell the appropriate people that @MartinBakole01 is ready to fly to Saudi Arabia to fight Joe Parker, no problem whatsoever"
Bakole's eagerness to step in makes sense. Some people think he's the most avoided fighter in the heavyweight division. He's got a big fight coming up in May against Ede Ajagba. The winner of that bout will be next in line to challenge for Dubois' title.
This isn't the only setback for the event. Floyd Schofield also had to drop out of his world title challenge against WBC Lightweight Champion Shakur Stevenson because he got sick. That's two big changes to the card in just two days.
We're still waiting to hear more about what happened to Dubois and how the rest of the event will shape up. Stay tuned for updates as this story develops.
