Joseph Parker vs. Martin Bakole | PPV - 22 February 2025

[Kilburn]

I think he might need a massage when he checks in.

[Kilburn]

So apparently it kicks off around 730pm UK with Callum Smith and Josh

Really? I was looking at a schedule on Talksport this week and it said 4:43pm for Buatsi v Smith.

Which of course could be Saudi time…

[KiwiRider]

In breaking news: After Bakole's flight from the Congo was grounded due to excess weight concerns, Fwank has now stepped up to face Parker. When asked about this new opponent, Parker said "I'm gonna smash him bro!"

[MightyWarrior]

[MightyWarrior]

So apparently it kicks off around 730pm UK with Callum Smith and Josh

Really? I was looking at a schedule on Talksport this week and it said 4:43pm for Buatsi v Smith.

Which of course could be Saudi time…

Oh yeah, ignore me, he must’ve been talking about Saudi time I guess???

Actually, completely confused now

[Ruthless-RKO]

Big Marty on a lay over in fookin Ethiopia they say

2am arrival

Could he not get a direct flight lol

[Ruthless-RKO]

Frank says everything is okay, he’s tracking big Marty’s flight on his watch. He’s getting funnier with age

You can tell he’s enjoying life.

Fury and now the Saudi’s have made him a very rich man

[MightyWarrior]

Frank says everything is okay, he’s tracking big Marty’s flight on his watch. He’s getting funnier with age

You can tell he’s enjoying life.

Fury and now the Saudi’s have made him a very rich man

Yes, and I was thinking, that cushion has made him much less cautious with his matchmaking than we’ve seen over the years ( Joe calzaghe ) Like the Sheeraz fight for instance

Does Sheeraz have a big following in the UK?

[gregregegg]

Stopping in Ethiopia is the most extreme lengths I have seen a fighter go to to attempt to lose some weight…

[Ruthless-RKO]

WBO CONFIRMS JOSEPH PARKER WILL KEEP INTERIM TITLE, NOW AT STAKE VERSUS MARTIN BAKOLE

Joseph Parker will have his belt and defend it, too.

The Ring has confirmed that the interim WBO heavyweight title held by the New Zealander is now at stake this weekend. Parker (35-3, 23 KOs) is set to risk his secondary strap against late-arriving Martin Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs).

They will meet in Saturday’s DAZN Pay-Per-View co-feature, live from ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

As previously reported by The Ring, Bakole is a very late replacement for Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs), The Ring’s No. 2 heavyweight contender and current IBF heavyweight titlist. Parker was previously set to challenge for Dubois’ title, but the Londoner fell ill on Thursday and was pulled from the show.

Parker is The Ring’s No. 3-rated heavyweight contender, while Bakole is No. 6. Olekesandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) is The Ring champion who also holds the primary versions of the WBA, WBC and WBO titles.

Dubois-Parker originally carried the stipulation that Parker would be permitted to retain his interim WBO heavyweight title until he entered the ring. The sanctioning body would have then removed the secondary belt from circulation for the time being, as Parker was due to challenge for the primary IBF belt.

That dynamic is no longer in play without the IBF title at stake.

WBO president Gustavo Olivieri confirmed to The Ring that Parker’s bout against Bakole will be fully sanctioned. Bakole not only fits the criteria as the No. 2 ranked WBO contender, but is the highest rated available challenger.

Zhilei Zhang (27-2-1, 22 KOs)—The Ring’s No. 4 heavyweight contender—is rated No. 1 by the WBO. However, the former interim titlist is already set to face Agit Kabayel (25-0, 17 KOs)—The Ring’s No. 5 heavyweight contender—for the interim WBC strap.

Bakole was previously scheduled to face Efe Ajagba (20-1, 14 KOs), The Ring’s No. 10 heavyweight contender, in an IBF eliminator. Their bout was due to serve as part of a Ring Magazine-branded show this May at a New York City location to be determined.

Given the recent developments, the IBF was not in a position to determine next steps—if any—for its plans to fulfill its mandatory challenger slot at heavyweight.

Parker’s bout was the second on this show to take a hit during fight week.

As previously reported by The Ring, Floyd Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) was hospitalized on Tuesday and pulled from his scheduled clash with WBC lightweight titlist Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs). Josh Padley (15-0, 4 KOs) was cleared and approved by the British Boxing Board of Control less than 24 hours later to challenge Stevenson, The Ring’s No. 3 lightweight.

Headlining the show, The Ring and undisputed light heavyweight king Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) faces former WBA titlist Dmitry Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs). Their championship clash is a rematch to their Oct. 12 thriller at nearby Kingdom Arena. Beterbiev via majority decision to fully unify the 175-pound titles.

Beterbiev and Bivol are rated No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, in The Ring’s pound-for-pound top ten.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[KiwiRider]

Brilliant news.
It would have been a shame to drop his WBO belt and fight for nothing.
And a good motivator for Bakole, that belt puts you in contender status.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Brilliant news.
It would have been a shame to drop his WBO belt and fight for nothing.
And a good motivator for Bakole, that belt puts you in contender status.

WBO first said, they would allow him to enter the Dubois fight as interim champion and were only gonna strip him after the first bell.

Fair enough..

First bell never rang, so no reason to strip him still.

But now Bakole has a chance to win it.

I remember 18 months ago, Bakole started a go fund me page to help training costs.

[gregregegg]

Credit to Turki getting the best replacement… but after further thought (and realising bakole is still on a plane) I don’t actualy like it. I get bakole is an adult and can make his decisions, but I don’t think someone that has worked for years to get to a spot should be fighting out of shape and jet lagged.

This card was stacked enough without the fight, should have delayed Parker vs ddd for a month… but the conspiracy theorist in me thinks DDD realised he had a direct path to usyk and that’s what turk wants so they did a sneaky.

[rd350lc]

So apparently it kicks off around 730pm UK with Callum Smith and Josh

Really? Going to be a bloody late night then .
I seem to remember these cards starting around 5pm UK time.
If it was 7,30 start it could be ending 2am ISH ??

[Ruthless-RKO]

So apparently it kicks off around 730pm UK with Callum Smith and Josh

Really? Going to be a bloody late night then .
I seem to remember these cards starting around 5pm UK time.
If it was 7,30 start it could be ending 2am ISH ??

No its
Not.

PPV starts 4pm UK

[rd350lc]

So apparently it kicks off around 730pm UK with Callum Smith and Josh

Really? Going to be a bloody late night then .
I seem to remember these cards starting around 5pm UK time.
If it was 7,30 start it could be ending 2am ISH ??

No its
Not.

PPV starts 4pm UK

Thanks Ruth

[gregregegg]

Parker 267lb? That is simply too heavy, for DDD or or for Martin.

I get being solid vs DDD (like 255 max), but for bakolie your not gunna out flat foot him…. I’d like to have seen a 245 Parker vs Martin (obviously not time to plan weight for that haha)…

Now even at 267 I’ll be surprised if Parker gasses befor Martin who looks huge (I’m guessing 330)… but Martin’s knockout power with arm punches is formidable so if both are really tired I feel Parker’s in the most danger…

[JamesPhilips]

In breaking news: After Bakole's flight from the Congo was grounded due to excess weight concerns, Fwank has now stepped up to face Parker. When asked about this new opponent, Parker said "I'm gonna smash him bro!"

If a gun couldn’t stop fish eyes, what chance has Parker got!? FW by late stoppage

[JamesPhilips]

Credit to Turki getting the best replacement… but after further thought (and realising bakole is still on a plane) I don’t actualy like it. I get bakole is an adult and can make his decisions, but I don’t think someone that has worked for years to get to a spot should be fighting out of shape and jet lagged.

This card was stacked enough without the fight, should have delayed Parker vs ddd for a month… but the conspiracy theorist in me thinks DDD realised he had a direct path to usyk and that’s what turk wants so they did a sneaky.

I’m sure Billy Nelson talked him into it. He wants his piece of the huge pie

[joshj909]

Parker 267lb? That is simply too heavy, for DDD or or for Martin.

I get being solid vs DDD (like 255 max), but for bakolie your not gunna out flat foot him…. I’d like to have seen a 245 Parker vs Martin (obviously not time to plan weight for that haha)…

Now even at 267 I’ll be surprised if Parker gasses befor Martin who looks huge (I’m guessing 330)… but Martin’s knockout power with arm punches is formidable so if both are really tired I feel Parker’s in the most danger…

Parker does have good recovery which might help with that too. Getting caught once doesn't mean things are over for him as he can get back up and get on his bike and recover well. Can Bakole have enough in him to catch Parker enough times to stop him? That's the question

[KiwiRider]

Turns out Parker has sparred Martin "the marshmello" Bakole.

[The Gratest]

Possibly wants revenge for getting KO'd in sparring by big Marty.

...after vomiting in a bucket or before?

He was sick after KO'ing yet another top ranked HW in sparring, cutting a swathe through the HW divisions top fighters...yet receiving no award or recognition.

There's only a 2 hour time difference between Kinshasa and Riyadh, so jetlag will be minimal. Kinshasa is actually closer to Riyadh than London is in a direct line.
Not exactly great preparation though for a HW 'title' fight though. My worry would be how long he has stopover in Addis Ababa and avoiding the Duty Free snacks, especially large packets of M&Ms. Also, for the poor bastid having to get crammed in next to him on the flights.

The guy's a KO style fighter. Flat footed, big powerful arm punches that carry enough weight that he doesn't need to fully twist into them. He won't have the gas tank that a fully prepared version would have, but I don't think it will make a difference.
He'll need to go for Parker early and, if he can't get him out of there, will gas out, probably retire on his stool citing the short notice. A valid face saving reason.

[KiwiRider]

If this was actually taken this week, then he is in a gym and he looks great, about the same as he did vs Anderson.
Sweet.

[TheGoods]

Saw a short vid of Bakole jumping on a random set of scales during an interview with a female - in his skinny jeans and Gucci tee shirt (had two watches on as well) and he was 315.

So he’s roughly a stone heavier than when he fought Takam.

With Parker being so heavy too anything could happen here. However the worry for Bakole backers is the fact he’s probably not sparred this year (fight was May 2) and he must be jet-lagged.

Crazy story though and he’s mad enough to pull this out the bag by the way.