This Saturday's Feb. 22 mega-card in Riyadh, headlined by Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol, features some intriguing match-ups; but none as hard-hitting as Daniel Dubois' IBF heavyweight title defence against Joseph Parker.

Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) won his title outright with a destructive fifth-round knockout of Anthony Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) last September and since then, his confidence has been sky-high.

He called out Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) for a rematch following the Ukrainian's points win over Tyson Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) in December, but with Parker (35-3, 23 KOs) waiting in the wings, his motives have been labeled rather bold.

The 27-year-old carries absurd power, though, and Parker has been in some punishing fights over the last two-and-a-half years, despite his career resurgence.

Dubois' former stablemate and sparring partner Lawrence Okolie (21-1, 16 KOs) believes that if New Zealander Parker isn't quick enough, like he has been so far throughout his partnership with Andy Lee, then it'll be an easy night's work for 'Dynamite'.

Okolie told The Ring: "It's tough because it depends on if Parker can keep his speed up like he has been in his previous fights.

"If he can't then Dubois will get to him quite quickly, Dan will get to him in the first five or six rounds.

"But if Parker hasn't lost the speed, he has a good chance of negating what Dan does well and out-pointing him down the stretch."

The winner of Dubois-Parker is likely to go on and face Usyk, who is looking to become a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion.

Dubois and Usyk fought in August 2023, but the Londoner came unstuck in the ninth round, losing by TKO after facing an incisive onslaught from the former undisputed cruiserweight titleholder.

The fight wasn't without its controversy, however, as midway through the bout, Usyk was floored by what Dubois thought was a right hand to the body. The punch was ruled low, however, and Usyk was given ample time to recover before going on to claim his stoppage victory.

Elsewhere on the Beterbiev-Bivol undercard, Matchroom's Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) defends his WBC lightweight title against Golden Boy-promoted Floyd Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs).

In the third Golden Boy vs Matchroom fight to take place in seven days, following Arnold Barboza's win over Jack Catterall, Vergil Ortiz Jr (22-0, 21 KOs) will face Israil Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) in an all-action junior-middleweight fight.

Zhilei Zhang (27-2-1, 22 KOs) is up against Agit Kabayel (25-0, 17 KOs) in a battle of top heavyweight contenders, while Joshua Buatsi (19-0, 13 KOs) takes on his biggest challenge as a professional yet in former world champion Callum Smith (30-2, 22 KOs).

Lastly, Hamzah Sheeraz (21-0, 17 KOs) challenges for his first world title as he prepares to fight WBC 160-pound champion Carlos Adames (24-1, 18 KOs) for his green and gold belt.