Tony Bellew has surprisingly backed Joseph Parker to beat Daniel Dubois if he can survive the early onslaught.
Dubois will defend his IBF heavyweight world title in a mouth-watering clash with leading contender Parker on a bumper bill in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on February 22.
‘Dynamite’ is going into the contest on the back of a sensational upset win over Anthony Joshua in September last year, and is on a sensational run of form.
Meanwhile Parker, the narrow underdog, also defeated Deontay Wilder and most recently Zhilei Zhang in 2024 and is confident he can become a two-time champion.
It is an intriguing clash of styles with Dubois considered the more heavy handed of the two, but Parker possesses a granite chin and superb natural ring craft.
And former world champion Bellew believes that Parker’s boxing skills could be the key to the fight, providing he survives a likely aggressive early start from Dubois.
“It’s a top, top fight, I think the first three or four rounds are key,” he said on talkSPORT Breakfast.
“If Joe can see through them I think he gets the job done, but Daniel Dubois is in a rich vein of form.
“He [Dubois] rolls the dice every time, he lets his hands go and has no fear at the moment.
“But I just think if Joseph Parker has been diligent in his camp, he can get the job done.
“He’s a better boxer, he’s got more skills and skillset, but he isn’t as powerful as Dubois.
“Also he isn’t as young as Daniel Dubois and youth can catch up with you.
“Dubois is so strong and lets his hands go, a lot of the heavyweights are cautious about it.”
There are an array of incentives to get the job done, including the possibility of a potential undisputed clash with Oleksandr Usyk.
For Dubois, he has already regularly pleaded with the Ukrainian for a rematch of his 2023 defeat, but will need to beat Parker first.
The champion has looked extremely dominant since teaming up with trainer Don Charles beating Filip Hrgovic and Jarrell Miller en route to capturing the title.
But it will be an interesting task that awaits him given Parker could well pile on weight and look to trade with Dubois in surprising new tactics.
And Parker believes if he turns the contest into a slug-fest, Dubois could look to quit if he increases his punching power.
“It depends. If it gets too hard, he will look for a way out,” Parker said to Sky Sports.
“But if it’s going his way, he’ll keep going. It’s my job to go out there and offset what he’s going to bring and follow my game plan.
“Even if times get hard I’ve always had self-belief. It’s because of the hard work that I’ve done and the standards my parents instilled in me at a young age.
“I’ve always believed that no matter what, no matter what anyone says, no matter what anyone does, I believe wholeheartedly that I back myself and believe in myself always.
“Once that fight’s done and I win, I can look at other fights.”
Fans can tune in to live coverage of Dubois vs Parker on talkSPORT on February 22 as part of a stacked card headlined by Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2.
