IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker and Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 rematch are two of the fights being planned for February 22nd in the next Riyadh Season card.
Anthony Joshua has chosen not to take the rematch with Dubois due to injuries from their fight on September 21st. That would have been a more interesting fight for fans than watching Parker move around, clinching, trying to win an ugly decision.
February 22nd Planned Card
- Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker
- Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2
- Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis vs. Vergil Ortiz Jr.
- Carlos Adames vs. Hamzah Sheeraz
- Zhilei Zhang vs. Agit Kabayel
Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) will be making his second defense of his IBF title against the former WBO champion Parker (35-3, 23 KOs). Daniel knocked Joshua in the fifth round in front of a massive crowd at Wembley Stadium in a four-knockdown performance.
Going from fighting Joshua to the defensive specialist Parker, 33, will be a big letdown for Dubois. Hopefully, the build-up to the fight will be interesting.
This will be a different type of test for the 27-year-old Dubois, who will have to solve the defensive style that Parker has adopted in the last couple of years. Dubois has the youth, power, work rate, and stamina to cut off the ring on Parker and knock him out.
Interestingly, the main event for the February 22nd card could have the Dubois vs. Parker fight rather than the rematch between undisputed light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) and Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs). However, the previous Beterbiev-Bivol fight on October 12th wasn’t that exciting due to the movement and clinching that Bivol was doing the entire fight.
That made it very boring, and the rematch will likely be even more so. Bivol has already said he plans to move more in the second fight, which won’t be fun to watch. He lacks the power and the chin to stand and fight Beterbiev, so moving is all he can do.
There’s a potential fight between Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Vergil Ortiz that could be on the February 22nd card. But with the way Hearn was talking in an interview today, it doesn’t sound likely those two will be fighting. Hearn mentioned that the fight would be at 147, and there’s little chance that Vergil will be able to boil down to make it happen.
In another fight on the card, WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames (24-1, 18 KOs) will defend against Hamzah Sheeraz (21-0, 17 KOs).
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