Dubois (24-3, 23 KOs), The Ring’s No. 1 contender for Oleksandr Usyk’s title, made a successful first defense of his WBO belt by destroying Fabio Wardley in the second round of their rematch October 17. Dubois, 29, won’t take much of a break after defeating Wardley easily, with Queensberry Promotions already working on his next fight.

Sources have told The Ring that Parker, a former holder of the WBO title, is one of the names in the frame to face him. New Zealand’s Parker (36-4, 24 KOs) has not boxed since he was stopped in the 11th round of his WBO interim title fight with Wardley a year ago.

The layoff has been largely due to him failing a UK Anti-Doping test in the hours after that clash at London’s O2 Arena. He returned an adverse analytical finding for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, but he vehemently denied knowingly ingesting the substance.

Parker’s suspension was lifted by UKAD in August. It was confirmed then Parker claimed that his failed test “was the result of his exposure to cocaine used by the nutritionist he had employed in preparation for the bout [against Wardley].”

Parker immediately announced that he would be back in the ring soon. But, nearly three months on, he still has nothing scheduled.

Parker, 34, could be handed an immediate shot at the WBO belt he won when he edged Andy Ruiz by majority decision in December 2016. Parker lost the title to Anthony Joshua in March 2018. He won the WBO interim championship when he upset Chinese southpaw Zhilei Zhang by majority decision in March 2024, but lost it to Wardley two fights later.

The working date for the Dubois-Parker bout, which is likely to land at either O2 Arena or Manchester’s Co-op Live, is January 30, although that is subject to change.

Dubois has set his sights on becoming undisputed champion during 2027. With the other belts tied up, though, the London native will likely have to wait at least until the second half of the year for a title unification fight.

The IBF belt is held by former Dubois victim Filip Hrgovic, who will face mandatory challenger Frank Sanchez in his home country of Croatia early next year. Germany’s Agit Kabayel is scheduled to defend his WBC belt against Nelson Hysa on November 28 in Duesseldorf.

The vacant WBA “super” belt will be on the line when Tyson Fury and Joshua meet in the main event of a Ring card December 11 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.

That means Dubois has time to defend his own title in the interim. Parker is ranked No. 6 by the WBO.

Beyond his ranking, the Auckland native’s record is a who’s who of British heavyweights over the past decade. Parker lost to Joshua, Dillian Whyte, Joe Joyce and Wardley and defeated Hughie Fury, Derek Chisora twice and Jack Massey.