WILL THE WINNER OF DANIEL DUBOIS AND JOSEPH PARKER FACE OLEKSANDR USYK NEXT? HEAVYWEIGHTS EYE DATE WITH DESTINY

Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker come face-to-face this weekend for the right to claim the IBF heavyweight title and the chance to face Oleksandr Usyk.

Dubois is the defending IBF champion after dismantling Anthony Joshua in brutal fashion last time out.

And next up for the Brit is another former world champion in New Zealander Parker, who wants a belt back after a late-career resurgence.

This fight is taking place on the Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2 undercard this weekend, and the whole boxing world will be watching, including Usyk.

Will the winner of Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker face Oleksandr Usyk next?

The simple answer to this is yes.

This is because Usyk holds the other heavyweight belts after beating Tyson Fury in December.

So, he now has the WBC, WBA and WBO titles to his name, and he has publicly said he wants to fight the winner of this contest.

This would give him the chance to unify the heavyweight division for a second time, which since there was four belts, has never been done before, while he only wants two more fights before calling it a day.

Speaking exclusively to talkSPORT's George Glinski in London, Usyk was asked about his next opponent.

He said: "We wait for a fight on February 22 between Daniel and Joseph.

"Whoever wins this fight between Daniel and Joseph, I have already made the fight."

Dubois has fought Usyk, and in his view, was robbed of a win after a shot to the Ukrainian was deemed a low blow.

Usyk was allowed time to recover before getting up and knocking the Londoner out in round nine.

Of course, Dubois wants to fight the modern-day boxing legend again and jumped in the ring immediately after Usyk beat Fury to challenge the Ukrainian.

Usyk wants to unify the heavyweight division againCredit: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

After the incident, Dubois was criticised for his actions by some for stealing Usyk's moment, but in an interview earlier this year, he defended it.

He said: "This is boxing at the end of the day, any publicity is good publicity.

"If they hate it or they like it then yeah. I've been boxing long enough to understand that now.

"It's not all about having everything your way and everyone love you, but as long as they want to see you that is all that matters.

"But at the end of the day, I want to get through Parker and then that fight [with Usyk] is done.

"It's all about making noise, and as a world champion you can choose your destiny and path.

"I'm just challenging in my eyes and I want to become undisputed champion and that's my intentions."

Meanwhile, Parker was very open that he was targeting the winner of Usyk vs Fury 2, so if he wins, he'll be more than up for facing Usyk.

His promoter David Higgins said: "Joseph wants to become undisputed heavyweight world champion. He's going to give it everything until the day he retires so I'd be lying if I didn't say that was the goal.

"He wants to beat Dubois and then he wants to fight whoever has the other belts and try and unify."

So, the path is clear for the winner of Dubois and Parker to face Usyk.

But how does the Ukrainian think the fight will go?

Well, talkSPORT asked him.

"52 per cent for Daniel and 48 per cent for Parker that is what my team have predicted," Usyk said.

The last time Usyk and Dubois met, it ended badly for DDD

Dubois vs Parker: Date and how to follow

This 12-round heavyweight title bout will take place on Saturday, February 22 at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and is part of the Beterbiev vs Bivol 2 event.

Official start times are yet to be announced but the undercard is expected to get going from 6pm UK time.

The ring walks for this bout will then be at around 10pm.

talkSPORT has secured the commentary rights to this massive event.

Adam Catterall will present live coverage from Riyadh on talkSPORT at 8pm with commentary coming from Gareth A Davies, Spencer Oliver and John Rawling.

To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream. Listen via the talkSPORT app here, or on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

You can also follow the talkSPORT Boxing YouTube Channel for all the latest news, views and exclusive content.

We'll also be holding a live watch-along for all the action over on the talkSPORT Boxing YouTube channel.

The entire card will also be streamed on DAZN Pay-Per-View and UK fans can pay £19.99 to watch the action here.

YUKI TSUNODA: CHRISTIAN HORNER HINTS AT RED BULL EXIT AFTER 2025

Yuki Tsunoda will represent experience and continuity at Racing Bulls next year but, passed over for promotion, the Japanese looks to be running out of road at the Red Bull-owned Formula 1 team.

A flurry of Red Bull announcements culminated on Friday with 20-year-old Isack Hadjar confirmed as Tsunoda's teammate.

The Frenchman takes the seat vacated by New Zealander Liam Lawson, who joins four times champion Max Verstappen at the main team after Mexican Sergio Pérez was dropped.

Tsunoda, 24, will be starting his fifth year with the team previously known as AlphaTauri and RB and has close ties to Red Bull's engine partners Honda.

The Japanese manufacturer is leaving Red Bull at the end of 2025, however, to work with Aston Martin.

"We're acutely aware that if we're not able to provide an opportunity for Yuki [at Red Bull] in all honesty this year, does it [keeping him on] make sense?," Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told reporters.

"You can't have a driver in the support team for five years. You can't always be the bridesmaid. You've either got to let them go at that point or look at something different."

Horner said he had spoken with Tsunoda, a fan favourite currently enjoying time off in Japan, and the driver was determined to show what he could do.

"I think he's very determined. He knows that things change very quickly," the Briton said. "Who would have thought nine months ago that we'd be sitting here talking about Liam Lawson being our driver for 2025?

Yuki Tsunoda missed out on a drive with Red Bull in 2025. Mark Thompson/Getty Images

"Things change quickly in this industry and he's aware of that and he knows that he needs to be the one demonstrating that he's the one knocking on the door."

Italy-based Racing Bulls, who have had several name changes after Red Bull bought Minardi in 2005 and renamed them Toro Rosso, have always been a feeder for the title-winning main Milton Keynes team.

Drivers to have come through their ranks include four times world champions Sebastian Vettel and Verstappen as well as race winners Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz.

Hadjar is one of a group of young prospects coming into the sport and Red Bull also have Arvid Lindblad as an exciting talent on the horizon.

Horner rates the 17-year-old, who has both British and Swedish nationality, particularly highly after a strong rookie season in Formula 3 including a Silverstone double win.

Currently without a super-licence, Lindblad will be seeking the necessary points in New Zealand early next year before a full F2 season that could set him up for promotion in 2026 at Tsunoda's expense.

- Reuters 

LIAM LAWSON 'LEARNED LESSON' AFTER MEXICO INCIDENT WITH SERGIO PEREZ

Liam Lawson of RB and Sergio Perez of Red Bull battle for position during the Mexico Grand Prix. Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

SAO PAULO, Brazil -- RB driver Liam Lawson says he learned lessons from his collision with Red Bull's Sergio Perez at the Mexico Grand Prix, but will not change his overall approach to racing.

Lawson and Perez collided at Turn 5 while racing for position in Mexico, with Lawson gesturing with his middle finger at the Mexican when he passed him later in the race.

Perez told media after the chequered flag that Lawson, who replaced Daniel Ricciardo at RB two races ago, had the wrong "attitude" for F1, claiming the New Zealander was "out of control".

Lawson, who drives for the Red Bull-owned RB team, said he spoke with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and motorsport advisor Helmut Marko following the Mexico Grand Prix.

"I don't think they want me to race differently," he said. "But obviously the target is not to make contact with another Red Bull car.

"And as I said at the time, it wasn't my intention in the moment. Looking back, maybe I could have avoided it. And clearly that would have been the right thing to do at the time."

Asked if he would maintain the same level of aggression in his racing, Lawson added: "That won't change, yeah. That attitude towards racing and how I approach races in Formula 1 won't change.

"That's how I'll always be, but at the same time there's things in there if I make mistakes I'll always learn from them. And clearly in Mexico I made a mistake and I'll learn from it."

Perez was attempting to pass Lawson for position when the pair collided. The Red Bull driver was squeezed to the inside of Turn 4 and then both ran deep into the corner, with Lawson ending up off the circuit.

Lawson rejoined ahead of Turn 5, which is where the two cars collided, and admitted he could have skipped the inside of the corner to avoid contact.

"Looking back, maybe there were things I could have done differently, I could have cut the chicane and avoided it completely," he said. "But in the moment I'm racing as well, you have a split second to make this decision.

"So it's something I've spoken to the team about afterwards and I've reflected on and I'll learn from going into this weekend."

Lawson said he spoke with Perez after the race and apologised for gesturing at the Red Bull driver with his middle finger.

"Briefly we spoke after the race but at the same time we left the track very early immediately afterwards anyway. So I think it was an on-track fight and I apologised for what I did after the incident.

"But in terms of the fight we had on track, it was deemed as a racing incident and something that was an in the moment battle."

- Laurence Edmondson, F1 Editor