Usyk or Illness? Dubois' Trainer Reveals Real Reason for Parker Withdrawal

Don Charles, trainer of IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs), has addressed speculation that Dubois withdrew from his scheduled fight with Joseph Parker not due to illness, but to avoid risk ahead of a possible unification clash with Oleksandr Usyk.

Charles firmly denied the accusations and clarified the circumstances behind Dubois’ withdrawal.

“We don’t owe anyone anything. It was a voluntary defense,” Charles said.

“My fighter was ill. I’m not the governing body setting up Daniel’s next fight. I’m not his promoter or manager. So we don’t owe Parker anything. He still got his fight.”

Charles emphasized that most fighters left without an opponent on short notice don’t get to compete at all, but Parker did—and was handsomely paid.

“It’s unfortunate we had to pull out due to illness, but Daniel wanted to fight. We withdrew him on the advice of a doctor, who recommended he shouldn’t compete for at least 48 hours.

He didn’t pull out because of Usyk—he was genuinely sick. And as I sit here today, we still don’t know who we’ll fight next.

So leave my fighter alone.”

Charles also pushed back on the idea that Dubois was dodging a tough matchup:

“We chose to fight Joseph. We were given other names, but we picked Parker because we were confident Daniel would dismantle him stylistically.”

Earlier, Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren confirmed that the champion would return to the ring in July, though his opponent is yet to be officially announced.