Joseph Parker will take on Martin Bakole on just two days’ notice following Daniel Dubois withdrawal.
Parker was scheduled to take on Dubois for the IBF World Heavyweight title, as the Englishman was looking to defend his title for the second time.
As Dubois fell ill on Thursday, a replacement was needed to keep Parker in the co-main event.
Flying directly from the Congo, Martin Bakole accepted the fight against Parker for the WBO Interim World Heavyweight title.
However, many names were mentioned in terms of a replacement for Parker, including one former champion.
Former world cruiserweight champion says he accepted Joseph Parker fight
As the news of Dubois’ illness came through, many names began to discussed in terms of potential replacements for Parker.
Although Bakole is a high-caliber replacement, he was not the only prolific name to be considered for the New Zealander.
Lawrence Okolie has told the DAZN broadcast that he accepted the short notice fight against Parker, however, Bakole was chosen by the interim champion instead.
When asked how close he was to getting the call to fight Parker, Okolie responded by saying, “It was done, I accepted immediately.”
Okolie said that he was in Dubai at the time of the call, just an hour from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Although the former cruiserweight world champion felt as if he would have won the fight, Okolie revealed that Parker’s team chose Bakole instead.
The fighter from London has a professional record of 21-1 (16 knockouts), with Okolie’s sole loss coming to Chris Billiam-Smith.
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Joseph Parker was determined to ensure standard of ‘The Last Crescendo’ did not drop
Although many fans feel Parker is taking a risk by accepting the Bakole fight on short notice, the fighter was determined to maintain the quality of the card.
Speaking on why he accepted the fight to Ring Magazine, Parker said that “We still wanted to keep it one of the greatest fight cards we’ve ever seen.”
‘The Last Crescendo’ had to deal with two withdrawals during fight week. Also falling ill, Floyd Schofield was forced to miss out on his bout with Shakur Stevenson in a world lightweight title bout.
Schofield was replaced by Josh Padley, who goes into the bout as a huge underdog.