Daniel Dubois will pursue a fight with Oleksandr Usyk next, rather than revisit a clash with Joseph Parker, The Ring has learned.

Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs), the IBF heavyweight champion, was supposed to defend his title against Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) on last weekend's 'Last Crescendo' card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but had to pull out with illness on fight week.

As a result, Martin Bakole (21-2, 16 KOs) stepped in and was knocked out by Parker in two rounds.

New Zealander Parker is in a position where a world title fight would be the next logical step for his career, but Dubois is now expected to chase a rematch with Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs), who holds the WBA/WBC/WBO and Ring heavyweight titles.

Dubois' dad Stan Dubois briefly spoke to The Ring about his son's future plans and what caused him to pull out of his scheduled fight with Parker last week.

He said: "Next, he wants Usyk, it’s frustrating about the Parker fight but he couldn’t fight with an infection. Usyk is who we're going after next.

"Fight week was going well until he became ill. Everything was perfect, then he started feeling unwell a couple days before.

"He had a virus, he had swollen glands and an ear infection so the doctor told him ‘I wouldn’t fight if I was you’ he said ‘you can fight, but after three rounds you’ll be feeling it’.

"He’s had these problems before, swollen glands, viral infection, it’s been happening for about eight years and they usually last three of four days but he’s been alright after that. With this it was just bad timing that it happened two days before the fight. Obviously it was very frustrating for him and us."

Dubois and Usyk fought back in August 2023, with the Ukrainian coming out on top in a ninth-round stoppage victory in Wroclaw, Poland.

The fight wasn't without its controversy, however, as midway through the bout Dubois landed a shot to Usyk's midriff which was adjudged low by the referee.

Usyk went down and writhed in pain but was allowed around four minutes to recover from the blow, which Dubois and his promoter Frank Warren maintained was a legal punch.

With Dubois and Usyk likely to face each other next, that leaves Parker and The Ring's No. 5 ranked heavyweight Anthony Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) without opponents. Those two could very well meet again in what would be a rematch from the latter's unanimous decision win over the former WBO champion in 2018.