Don Charles has no doubt that he and the rest of his team did the right thing by withdrawing an ailing Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) from his fight with Joseph Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) at the last minute.
"It was the right decision," the DDD coach told Sky Sports. - Sometimes you have to protect boxers from themselves. Daniel wanted to fight, he's a gladiator and gladiators want to fight. But it would be unwise to go to a championship fight and risk what can happen to you if you're sick and can't defeat your opponent in the first half of the fight."
"It is prudent to act. I would also like to remind you that Daniel lost the biggest fee of his career. It cost him a lot of money - that's three months of training at the highest level, it costs a lot. And as a team, we lost. When I hear stories about Daniel chickening out, it seems like bullshit to me. What's the point of doing expensive training and then flying to Riyadh and refusing? Why?" - Don Charles asked rhetorically.
Joseph Parker eventually fought Martin Bakole at the Riyadh event, knocking out the Congolese in the second round. The New Zealand boxer now looks forward to a fight with Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs), which Dubois is also fine with.
