Parker vs. Bakole Set After Dubois Pulls Out; Is It Too Risky?
Joseph Parker will take on Martin Bakole after Daniel Dubois pulled out of their fight because of medical grounds.
It was the second time that a fighter had pulled out with an illness from the February 22 card in Saudi Arabia after Floyd Schofield did the same, preventing his fight with Shakur Stevenson. Parker was set to face Dubois for the latter’s IBF Heavyweight Title. He had the opportunity to become a two-time heavyweight champion, having previously won the WBO belt. He would later lose that belt to Anthony Joshua, who became the unified heavyweight champion.
Parker is in the best form of his career, having defeated Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang in his previous two fights. Parker knew that a victory would put him in a position to fight Oleksandr Usyk for the Undisputed Heavyweight Title. The news is also a blow for Dubois, who was in impressive form. He had won his last three fights, stopping Joshua in his latest one.
Dubois also had a narrative to rematch Usyk after the Ukrainian stopped him in their first fight. Dubois dropped Usyk in the fifth round with a body shot, which was controversially deemed a low blow. Usyk would later recover and stop Dubois in the ninth round.
Bakole now gets his opportunity. Bakole is often seen as the boogeyman of the heavyweight division. His only loss come against Michael Hunter. He put the heavyweight division on notice by knocking out Jared Anderson in his last fight. Anderson was seen as the future of the heavyweight division as the American suffered his first loss. Bakole has previously spoken about hurting Joshua in sparring after reports that he was set to face AJ in Africa.
Reaction
Eddie Hearn denied reports of the fight, but he did not rule out the bout. Bakole can secure himself bigger fights if he gives Parker a loss. It is a major test for Parker to take on such a knockout artist at short notice. But with great risk comes great reward, as Parker will face one of the toughest tests of his career.
“If [Dubois] is ill, I hope he gets better soon, and I’m looking forward to Saturday and putting on a great show. I am ready to go, I’ve put in all the hard work with my team in Ireland. I’m here now in Riyadh, and come on Saturday,” Parker said
“There will be a fight Saturday. Whoever’s there, Joe’s ready to fight, he’s ready to go, he’s ready to win. That’s it. Whoever we’re gonna fight Saturday, Joe’s up for it. He doesn’t care, he’s one of them fighters: he’ll fight anybody,” Parker’s manager Spencer Brown
Full Card
Joseph Parker vs Martin Bakole
Shakur Stevenson vs Josh Padley
Carlos Adames vs Hamzah Sheeraz
Vergil Ortiz Jr vs Israil Madrimov
Zhilei Zhang vs Agit Kabayel
Joshua Buatsi vs Callum Smith
Ziyad Al Maayouf vs Jonatas de Oliveira
Mohammed Alakel vs Engel Gomez
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