Martin Bakole will replace Daniel Dubois to fight Joseph Parker on Saturday night.
‘Triple D’ was set to defend his IBF heavyweight title against Parker in the co-main event of a stacked Saudi card headlined by Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol‘s rematch for the undisputed light heavyweight titles.
However, Dubois has since been withdrawn from the bill after falling ill.
According to Ring Magazine, Dubois was deemed medically unfit to compete by doctors and so fast-rising Congolese star Bakole will take his place in the chief support slot.
Lawrence Okolie, David Adeleye and Mourad Aliev were initially said to be the frontrunners to replace Dubois.
However, Parker will instead face a far sterner test in Bakole.
The heavy-handed African superstar was widely written off after falling to the first defeat of his professional career against Michael Hunter in 2018.
But he flipped the script by laying waste to Tony Yoka, Carlos Takam and Jared Anderson.
Prior to his destructive fifth-round stoppage win over Anderson, the young American was being touted as the future of the heavyweight division, yet he proved no match for Bakole.
The 31-year-old earned a No.6 spot in the Ring heavyweight rankings for his impressive display and was subsequently ordered to face Efe Ajagba in an IBF final eliminator to determine the mandatory for Dubois.
That fight was planned to be a part of an exciting May card in New York which also featured Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney in separate bouts.
It is presently unclear whether that bout is still set to go ahead.
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