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Bellew Breaks Down Parker Vs. Bakole – ‘He Should Have Too Much'

hasib

22 February 2025

Tony Bellew has given his take on the Joseph Parker vs. Martin Bakole fight.

Parker was initially set to face Daniel Dubois in an IBF Heavyweight Title match-up. Dubois is the current IBF champion after having stopped Anthony Joshua in his last fight to retain his belt. But the fight was called off after Dubois pulled out on medical grounds. Bakole was then given the opportunity to take the fight as he seeks to secure another major win. Bakole arrives into the bout with a knockout victory against Jared Anderson. That was the first defeat of Anderson’s career in an upset where many were touting Anderson as the future of the heavyweight division.

Bakolie may be 33 years old, but he is as dangerous as ever. He outweighs Parker by a significant amount, going over 300 pounds. Bakole is also known for being a knockout artist, as he has only suffered one loss in his career against Michael Hunter. But Parker is significantly more experienced. He is the former WBO Heavyweight Champion. He lost his title to Anthony Joshua, who would later become the unified heavyweight champion. Parker knows what it takes to get over the line.

Bellew Reacts

He has also been in bigger fights, such as against Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang. Parker secured victories in both of those bouts to rejuvenate his career. He has also consistently sparred with Tyson Fury, who is the former WBC Heavyweight Champion and one of the best heavyweights of this era. The WBO has said that it will be an interim fight, meaning that the winner takes a step closer to facing Oleksandr Usyk. Bellew felt that Parker’s experience would be enough to get him the win despite the short notice of the fight.

"Listen, credit to both men for stepping up and keeping this amazing because this is a brilliant fight that has been put together at the last minute. Parker should have too much in this due to his experience and also the fact he’s got a full camp behind him that I believe has gone very well. Bakole will be extremely dangerous in the first half of the fight.

"It wouldn’t surprise me to see him treat this like a four round fight and just go out and empty the tank for an early stoppage. That might be his best route to victory because fighting Parker on such short notice for 12 rounds is going to be very hard. This has everything to be a great fight though, and once again, I respect both men so much for stepping up," Bellew said

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