Samoan heavyweight Lupesoliai Joseph Parker will now face Martin Bakole in the contest set to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Sunday after Daniel Dubois pulled out of the fight due to illness.

Martin Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs) is coming off his five-round battering of unbeaten Jared Anderson last August, which was part of a Riyadh Season card in Los Angeles, California.

According to reports by The Rings magazine, other contenders considered included former world champion Lawrence Okolie, contender David Adeleye and undefeated Mourad Aliev.

Parker spent months training for the fight. Soon after his December vacation in Samoa, he flew out to prepare for what would have been one of the biggest fights of Parker's career.