The British heavyweight world champion was forced to pull out of his showdown with Joseph Parker and, as a result, could suffer financially from the withdrawal
British star Daniel Dubois is set to lose £8million after pulling out of his heavyweight world title defence against Joseph Parker.
On Thursday, ‘Triple D’ had fallen ill and was forced to withdraw from Saturday night’s clash with the former heavyweight champion. Prior to the fight cancellation, Dubois had fulfilled his media obligations this week, appearing at both the grand arrivals on Tuesday and Wednesday night’s public workout.
In his absence, though, Martin Bakole stepped in. The 31-year-old had been training to fight Efe Ajagba in May in a final eliminator to determine the next challenger to Dubois’ crown. That said, he was unable to pull off a sensational upset in Riyadh after Parker scored a destructive knockout in the second round.
Dubois, who is yet to comment on his withdrawal, will be devastated that he was unable to defend his gold strap on such a historic card, and it could cost him dearly. According to CasinoHawks, the British boxer will likely lose £8m – which includes lost fight earnings, training camp expenses and potential sponsorship losses.
The data experts have carefully estimated how much ‘Triple D’ could lose. According to CasinoHawks, Dubois was set to pocket £2.5million. As well as that, the Brit missed out on an extra £4m in PPV shares. A top-class training camp typically runs for 8-12 weeks and can cost anywhere from £200,000 to £400,000, factoring in the likes of coaches & trainers (£80,000+), sparring partners (£40,000+), travel and accommodation (£40,000 – if camp is held abroad) and other expenses like supplements, recovery, logistics, management fees (£40,000+).
In terms of sponsorships and future negotiations, sponsors like Adidas, Boxraw, 32Red, and Footasylum may have had deals in place regarding fight-week exposure and TV appearances – meaning ‘Triple D’ could miss out on six-figure bonuses or ‘activation incentives.’ CasinoHawks adds that ‘future fight negotiations may take a hit if promoters and sponsors see him as a higher-risk investment.’
When you add all of that, the data experts predict that Dubois could lose between £8 – £9.5million. Boxing promoter Frank Warren recently revealed that his star client may suffer a “massive financial loss” after pulling out of the Parker fight. “If you don’t fight, you don’t get paid; imagine the cost of a training camp, booking places, setting the camp up, bringing the sparring partners in, nutritionists, chefs, trainers, and you don’t get paid,” he said.
“It’s a massive loss, you can’t insure it, if you do it costs a fortune to insure. It was an unbelievable purse he was getting for the fight but we are where we are: if you’re not well, you can’t fight. I’m always telling the fighters I don’t want to hear after the event if anything goes wrong that you had a bad hand, or a cold, or your budgie died – none of that matters, you live to fight another day.”
