Joseph Parker could be the latest boxer to emerge from a brush with drug-testing authorities and walk straight into a big fight. According to reports, he is being considered as the next opponent for WBO heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois.

The pair were originally supposed to clash in February 2025, only for Dubois, then the IBF titlist, to pull out through illness mere days before the fight. With organizers keen to ensure the appeal of the Riyadh Season card, topped by the rematch between Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev, wasn't affected, Martin Bakole was flown into Saudi Arabia at the 11th hour as a replacement. Parker won in two rounds.

The New Zealander, 36-4 (24 KOs), was then stopped in the 11th round by Fabio Wardley nine months later in one of the upsets of the year. It soon emerged that Parker had tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, but he vehemently denied knowingly ingesting the substance.

He was cleared in August this year when UKAD accepted that the adverse finding was due to Parker's “exposure to cocaine used by the nutritionist he had employed” ahead of the Wardley contest.

Parker, 34, had been linked to a contest against Frazer Clarke on the undercard of Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua on December 11. However, Parker – widely thought to have done enough to earn a world title shot prior to his loss to Wardley – would welcome the chance to regain the WBO strap he lost to Anthony Joshua in 2018.

After beating Parker, Wardley was upgraded to WBO champion, only to lose the belt in his first defense to Dubois in May. That violent 11th-round defeat was followed in October by a two-round thrashing in the rematch.

Frank Warren, promoter of both Dubois and Parker, stated after Dubois-Wardley II that he was keen to get his charge back in the ring as soon as possible. January 30, at London's O2 Arena, is being reported as the working date and venue.

Parker is ranked No. 6 by the WBO.