Daniel Dubois had an opportunity to cement himself as the No. 1 contender by defeating Joseph Parker at the “Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2” pay-per-view (PPV) event last month in Riyadh. Unfortunately, “Dynamite” was forced to withdraw due to illness, paving the way for Martin Bakole to step in on super-short notice.
Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) destroyed Bakole in the second stanza.
As a result, World Boxing Organization (WBO) ordered heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk to begin negotiations over a mandatory title defense against the power-punching kiwi, who captured the interim crown by outlasting Zhilei Zhang on the “Knockout Chaos” fight card back in March 2024.
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Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) was previously flirting with a potential crossover fight against Alex Pereira; however, “Poatan” dropped his light heavyweight strap to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313 earlier this month in Las Vegas. Usyk and Parker now have 30 days to reach an agreement or WBO will order purse bid proceedings.
Dubois has yet to comment on the WBO ruling.
