British IBF heavyweight (200+ lbs) champion Daniel Dubois (22-2, 22 KO’s) has completely disappeared from the public eye after purportedly falling ill which forced him to pull out of a planned February 22nd match against Joseph Parker (36-3, 24 KO’s), leading to many questions surrounding the veracity of the reported ailment he suffered that led to the withdrawal.
Parker would eventually fight and defeat Congolese heavyweight Martin Bakole (21-2, 16 KO’s) after Dubois withdrew from their bout.
The circumstances surrounding Dubois’ illness have continued to remain a mystery since last month, especially considering no proof was provided of any illness he suffered ― unlike another fighter who withdrew from the same card, Floyd Schofield (18-0, 12 KO’s), who later ended up being hospitalized.
While Schofield’s own circumstances had been in doubt until his hospitalization, with no information surrounding led to the fighter’s illness surfacing, Daniel Dubois was not reportedly hospitalized.
The only credible source of information surrounding Dubois’ illness would be his trainer, Don Charles, who came out with at least two different ailments that Dubois suffered when examined on two occasions, each by a different doctor:
“It was a Riyadh Season doctor who initially attended [and] examined Daniel [Dubois],” Charles told talkSPORT Boxing last week.
“From his findings, [the doctor] said, ‘look, he’s coming down with something. It’s in his system’. And swollen glands is the most evident [cause for his illness judging] by his throat, internally and externally.
“No decision was [yet] made at this point. He got examined by the Riyadh Season doctor [who] left some tablets prescription.
“The second doctor from the British Boxing Board of Control turned up 20 minutes later or so after the first doctor. Again, he did a blood prick to Daniel’s finger to take a blood, [followed by] a urine sample, and results were instantaneous. [The second doctor] said there was some redness in his ears.“
According to Charles, the second doctor recommended Daniel Dubois not to participate in a boxing bout over the next 48 hours ― which would leave him unable to face Parker that Saturday on February 22nd. After much debating between Dubois’ team, including promoter and Queensberry Promotions chairman Frank Warren, the decision was made to withdraw Dubois from his fight with Joseph Parker.
Despite Dubois having purportedly sought and gained professional medical help on two separate occasions, the exact nature of Dubois’ illness was never clarified by Don Charles and continues to raise questions surrounding the validity of the heavyweight champion’s illness.
A possible cause for the ailment that the first doctor examined suggests Dubois may have been suffering from internal and external throat swelling. This might just be related to another set of incidents that also occurred in the Saudi Arabian city of Riyadh with several UFC fighters having reported similar issues due to inhaling the paint fume chemicals in the locker rooms of where the UFC Fight Night 250 event was held ― with one fighter even ending up hospitalized.
The UFC event was held three weeks [on February 1st] prior to Dubois’ February 22nd clash against Parker.
Based on this, it is possible Dubois’ place of residence in Riyadh could have the same issues with paint fumes, though this has not been mentioned by anyone within Dubois’ own team. However, given this would paint Riyadh in a negative light, which would be counter-effective to Riyadh Season’s efforts to promote Riyadh as a tourism destination, this could explain why Dubois’ ailment was never clarified.
However, with no actual explanation on what happened with Daniel Dubois, this also breeds untold speculation; none of which is not expected to result in any clear answer any time soon.
