Kiwi boxer Joseph Parker bears no ill will towards Daniel Dubois after the IBF heavyweight champion’s short notice withdrawal from their title fight this weekend.

It was confirmed on Thursday that Dubois had picked up an illness and would be unable to compete on Saturday’s fight card in Saudi Arabia which also features a hotly-anticipated title tilt between rivals Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol — with Congolese boxer Martin Bukole stepping in to fill the void against Parker.

But Parker is not too downtrodden by the the crumbling of his world title fight, and says that Dubois made the right call to withdraw.

“If he is ill, I hope he gets better soon and I’m looking forward to Saturday and having a great show,” Parker said.

He added to Sky Sports: “He did a sensible thing. If you’re sick, don’t fight.

“There’s no point going out there and fighting your heart out and you’re not in the right physical shape. Go out there and fight when you’re at peak, top shape, top condition, and put on your best performance. Put your best foot forward and the one that everyone will remember.”

Parker, 33, is a former WBO champion and will now likely need to defeat Scottish-based Bukole if he is to retain hopes of reclaiming a world title.

Bukole has a record of 21-1 (16 KOs) and was last seen in the ring in August where he scored a fifth-round knockout of Jared Anderson.