Joseph Parker’s manager, Spencer Brown, says he’s been told by Billy Nelson that heavyweight Martin Bakole has been training for the last eight weeks before being selected as the replacement for the ill IBF champion Daniel Dubois for Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Eight Weeks of Prep
The perception boxing fans and the media have is that Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs) is coming into the fight on short notice, out of shape, likely over 300 lbs, and will waddle around the ring on Saturday. Brown says Bakole has been training, making his fight with Parker (35-3, 23 KOs) a more compelling contest. There’s a definite risk for Joseph and a lot to lose.
Even if Bakole is out of shape, his punching power will still be there, and as we saw in his last fight against Jared Anderson, he can hurt his opponents even with short punches thrown with little effort. Parker, 33, doesn’t exactly have a steel chin. He was on the deck twice in his last fight against Zhilei Zhang, and Joe Joyce wiped the deck with him in September 2022.
Bakole is a lot busier with those guys, and he’ll stalk Parker if he runs. He probably will. Parker is no longer a slugger like he was in his younger days and has transformed his style into a defensive fighter who looks to steal rounds with short bursts. If Bakole can get to Parker, this fight will end quickly.
“Billy told me he’s been in the gym for the last eight weeks,” said manager Spencer Brown to BoxNation about Martin Bakole having trained for the last eight weeks before being picked as the replacement opponent to face Joseph Parker this Saturday night in Riyadh.
“Of course, it does. He’s not getting off the sofa,” said Brown about Bakole not coming into the fight with Parker untrained and out of shape.
