Martin Bakole has stepped in on short notice to face Joseph Parker after Daniel Dubois was taken ill.
Joseph Parker has been no stranger to adversity, especially in the latter stage of his career, taking on risky fights against elite or feared opposition such as Zhilei Zhang, who nearly died when he faced Jerry Forrest, and Deontay Wilder.
The New Zealand man was already set for a tough night against Daniel Dubois, but for some, his night just got even tougher, as the Brit fell ill and was forced to withdraw just two days before the event.
Less than 48 hours before the Dmitry Bivol vs Artur Beterbiev 2 card was set to commence, Martin Bakole has stepped in and will now face Parker.
The Congolese boxer is yet another feared heavyweight, with his most recent outing seeing Bakole stop Jared Anderson in devastating fashion.
Despite this, Eddie Hearn believes he sees a weakness in Bakole and thinks Parker can claim victory on the 22nd.
Eddie Hearn questions Martin Bakole’s fitness
In an interview with Seconds Out, Hearn claimed he would be backing Parker, who opened up on his depression recently, on Saturday night’s card: “I’ll always pull for Parker, unless he’s in against one of our guys.”
Speaking on the fight, and on Bakole as an opponent, the world-class promoter said: “It’s a tough fight, I think to be honest, one of Bakole’s weaknesses is his fitness, and coming in on short notice…You know? but it’s dangerous.”
Bakole weighed over 284 pounds when he faced Jared Anderson, and without the luxury of a fight camp, may come in weighing significantly more.
This may have drastic effects on Bakole’s fitness, though his trainer, Billy Nelson, has nothing but confidence in his man.
It remains to be seen what condition Bakole will be in when he faces Parker, and whether Parker can adapt on such short notice to a new opponent, but it is sure to be a must-watch co-main event.
Eddie Hearn insists Anthony Joshua is not afraid of Martin Bakole
In the same interview, Hearn is asked: “[Many people] think Joshua’s afraid of Bakole, that maybe you want Parker to win because that’s the easiest win for Joshua.”
Hearn was convicted in his response: “You’ve only got to look at his CV. He’s never ducked a challenge. […] You think he’s afraid of Martin Bakole? The guy got beat by Michael Hunter at York Hall.”
Bakole was stopped by a 43lb lighter Hunter in 2018. This is his sole career defeat.
There has not been any confirmation on Anthony Joshua‘s next fight, as Hearn had stated they were keeping an eye on who would win out of Parker and Dubois for Dubois’ title.
Joshua has been out of action since a devastating stoppage loss to Dubois in Wembley Arena.
With that out of the picture, a fight with Bakole is possible, if he can first get past Parker, who has exhibited tremendous bravery in taking this fight. Many fans were shocked when Dubois’ replacement and Parker’s opponent was revealed to be Bakole.
Parker vs Bakole will be held with Parker’s WBC interim title on the line.