Joseph Parker appears to have piled on the timber ahead of his upcoming clash with Daniel Dubois.
The heavyweight titans are set to square off on Saturday night in Saudi Arabia as chief support for Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol’s rematch for the undisputed light heavyweight crown.
Dubois and Parker are set to square off this weekend in Saudi ArabiaCredit: Getty
Whoever gets their hand raised will go home with the IBF belt and punch their ticket for a four-belt shootout with Oleksandr Usyk later this year.
Usyk revealed to talkSPORT.com last week that he will face the winner of this weekend’s heavyweight dust-up in his penultimate professional outing.
“We wait for a fight on February 22 between Daniel and Joseph,” he said during an unprecedented exclusive interview on the London Eye.
“Whoever wins this fight between Daniel and Joseph, I have already made the fight.”
With so much on the line, Parker has left no stone unturned in training and has seemingly hit the weight room hard in preparation for his opportunity to become a two-time heavyweight champion.
A series of still images uploaded to social media by Matchroom Boxing show the New Zealander flaunting a muscle-bound physique, which left fans stunned.
One supporter wrote: “He’s coming in heavy”.
Another posted: “Manuka honey biceps.”
A third commented: “In shape.”
Meanwhile, somebody else added: “Looking strong Joe.”
Parker has left no stone unturned in preparation for the fightCredit: Matchroom Boxing
He looks to have put on plenty of muscle massCredit: Matchroom Boxing
Parker looks as though he could be approaching a career-heaviest weight.
The heaviest he has been for a fight came back in 2022 against Joe Joyce when he tipped the scales at 255lbs.
Parker would go on to lose that bout via eleventh-round knockout but he has since strung together a five-fight winning streak including notable victories over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang.
Dubois also enters fight night in stunning form.
Several members of the boxing fraternity branded Dubois a ‘quitter’ after seeing out counts against Joyce and Usyk on one knee in 2020 and 2023.
However, gutsy wins over Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic went a long way in shifting the perception of many of the sport’s preeminent voices.
Parker’s career heaviest weight is 255lbs against JoyceCredit: Matchroom Boxing
His stoppage victory over the latter led to him being crowned the interim IBF champion before he was upgraded to full world champion when Usyk relinquished the belt in order to pursue a rematch with Tyson Fury last year.
Dubois retained his red and gold strap by flattening Anthony Joshua in front of a capacity crowd at Wembley Stadium in September and is now gearing up for his second defence.