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'Live to fight another day!' - Daniel Dubois trainer hits out at withdrawal from Joseph Parker bout
Daniel Dubois may have missed out on a career-high payday against Joseph Parker, but trainer Don Charles says it was the right call for the Briton to withdraw after he fell ill.
The IBF heavyweight champion had been scheduled to mount the latest defence of his crown against the New Zealander at Riyadh Season's The Last Crescendo in February.
But after arriving in Saudi Arabia, Dubois fell suddenly ill and was pulled from the card with just two days to go, with Parker instead stopping Martin Bakole in two rounds.
The former has since faced criticism for his decision to step back, but Charles insists it was the correct decision, even as his star missed out on a career-best purse to boot.
"Upon the recommendation of the doctors we opted not to put our fighter in that situation, save him from that situation," he told Sky Sports News. "[You] live to fight another day.
"Every day I wake up, I know we did the right thing. You have to sometimes save fighters from themselves. Daniel wanted to fight. They are gladiators. They want to fight.
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"I don't think it's wise thing in a championship fight to go and take that chance. He shouldn't have fought and we didn't and I'm glad.
"It does anger me when I hear some of the comments of people. I always repeat: we're not in the macho business, we're in the smart business."
"We had to do the smart thing. I also remind the audience this was Daniel Dubois' highest pay to date in his professional career, his career-highest purse.
"Three and a half months of sheer hard work and the money that it costs to do a camp of that magnitude. We then went all the way to Riyadh.
"Forty-eight hours before he's due to fight, he showed signs of illness. It cost him money. To do a three and half month camp at this level, it costs a lot of money. He's lost all that.
"The whole team, we're gutted. When I'm hearing people say 'oh he ducked it', 'he ducked the fight' - it's not logical. It is what it is. We're where we are and we look forward."
Dubois had been expected to bypass a rearranged clash with Parker, the former WBO champion, in pursuit of a undisputed bout with Oleksandr Usyk later this year.
But the Ukrainian has been ordered to fight the New Zealander in a mandatory battle instead, throwing plans up in the air for the heavyweight division.
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