Martin Bakole vs. Efe Ajagba | PPV - 3 May 2025

[mickey1975]

I really want Bakolie to get beat. I'm sick of hearing Billy. I like him, but not on this subject.

[Ruthless-RKO]

I really want Bakolie to get beat. I'm sick of hearing Billy. I like him, but not on this subject.

Same.

It’s like when one person has only one fighter he cares about and they just run their mouth.

There’s been a few in the past.

[Jimmy2025]

I don't like Bakole’s weight and he will have been psychologically damaged getting stopped by Parker.

That said, I expect him to beat Ajagba by stoppage.

[mickey1975]

I really want Bakolie to get beat. I'm sick of hearing Billy. I like him, but not on this subject.

Same.

It’s like when one person has only one fighter he cares about and they just run their mouth.

There’s been a few in the past.

It's the way he's outraged if anyone questions his loss against Hunter or Parker. Like we are all mad. It's delusional.

[Jimmy2025]

I really want Bakolie to get beat. I'm sick of hearing Billy. I like him, but not on this subject.

Same.

It’s like when one person has only one fighter he cares about and they just run their mouth.

There’s been a few in the past.

It's the way he's outraged if anyone questions his loss against Hunter or Parker. Like we are all mad. It's delusional.

He's invested so much time and money into Bakole. In business they call what Billy suffers from re:Martin sunk cost fallacy.

[Coco]

Same.

It’s like when one person has only one fighter he cares about and they just run their mouth.

There’s been a few in the past.

It's the way he's outraged if anyone questions his loss against Hunter or Parker. Like we are all mad. It's delusional.

He's invested so much time and money into Bakole. In business they call what Billy suffers from re:Martin sunk cost fallacy.

Saying that if Billy gets his cut off this and the last fight, he has got his money back in spades

[Jimmy2025]

You'd think so. Hope he has because there's no denying the commitment.

[rd350lc]

You'd think so. Hope he has because there's no denying the commitment.

Just a shame his man in the ring doesn't show the same commitment back .

[KiwiRider]

Well I learned two things from the fight.

1, If Bakole came in lighter and fitter, he would have edged a win.

2, Joseph Parker might have a bit of pop. He stopped Bakole with his third flush power shot, whereas Efe was landing full flush right hands throughout the fight and it didn't seem to bother Bakole.

[1582388]

Well I learned two things from the fight.

1, If Bakole came in lighter and fitter, he would have edged a win.

2, Joseph Parker might have a bit of pop. He stopped Bakole with his third flush power shot, whereas Efe was landing full flush right hands throughout the fight and it didn't seem to bother Bakole.

Parker has one of the best right hands in the game.

[Jimmy2025]

My over two decade run of picking heavyweight results correctly is over. Ajagba probably should have got that. I had Bakole by stoppage, so was well wrong. I didn't think Ajagba would fail to engage and keep himself out of danger as well (boringly) as he did.

[Kilburn]

I think it’s likely Bakole could have shipped a lot more from Parker, the shot that got him on the top / side of the head, was not one you see land like that often.

[a force]

I think conditioning & sparring plays a huge part.

I don’t think Parker has that kind of effect on a Bakole that’s done a training camp.

He hadn’t been training for months in my opinion. I bet he hadn’t done any serious boxing training since before Christmas. We’ll never know for sure but that’s my view.

[Ruthless-RKO]

I think conditioning & sparring plays a huge part.

I don’t think Parker has that kind of effect on a Bakole that’s done a training camp.

He hadn’t been training for months in my opinion. I bet he hadn’t done any serious boxing training since before Christmas. We’ll never know for sure but that’s my view.

If that’s the case then he doesn’t deserve these paydays.

[SeanBrennan]

Have not seen this as been by my mother’s bedside. Was Bakole poor?

He looks very overweight

[londonwar]

A draw is a bad result. It just ties-up both for the rest of the year and the division loses yet more edge.

Many people continue to rate Ejagba despite the fact he's lost at world level and dosnt appear to be able to improve much more . He's too upright and square....very similar to Charles Martin.

[Coco]

I think both clearly demonstrated that they don't deserve a world title fight even when it is completely fragmented.

Bakole was very fortunate to get a draw.

Fair play to Shalom, he seems to have influence these days

[SeanBrennan]

Sounds like a gift for Bakole.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Sounds like a gift for Bakole.

Kinda how Ruiz was gifted a draw against Millet last year.

[SeanBrennan]

Sounds like a gift for Bakole.

Kinda how Ruiz was gifted a draw against Millet last year.

Gifts galore!

[TBA]

Well I learned two things from the fight.

1, If Bakole came in lighter and fitter, he would have edged a win.

2, Joseph Parker might have a bit of pop. He stopped Bakole with his third flush power shot, whereas Efe was landing full flush right hands throughout the fight and it didn't seem to bother Bakole.

Horsemeat Parker is a different animal just as Horsemeat Povetkin was.

There is a reason Dubs pulled out.

[joshj909]

The highlights of this don't look very exciting...

[KiwiRider]

Have not seen this as been by my mother’s bedside. Was Bakole poor?

He looks very overweight

He had three good rounds in him, and won 4/10 in the fight clearly and was given another close round for the draw.
Both of these guys are not in the HW mix as far as I'm concerned.
Bakole needs to drop 50 pounds and work on his cardio. He basically blew a chance to move on up through lack of commitment. They were talking rematch, but the look on Turki's face in the background said: "I'm not paying for that"

[SeanBrennan]

Have not seen this as been by my mother’s bedside. Was Bakole poor?

He looks very overweight

He had three good rounds in him, and won 4/10 in the fight clearly and was given another close round for the draw.
Both of these guys are not in the HW mix as far as I'm concerned.
Bakole needs to drop 50 pounds and work on his cardio. He basically blew a chance to move on up through lack of commitment. They were talking rematch, but the look on Turki's face in the background said: "I'm not paying for that"

Thanks Kiwi. I’ve just watched a video interview with Billy where Billy said he was 20 stone 6 when they parted and the plan was for him to come in at 20 stone but then he turned up at 299 which is 21st 5. Billy said he can’t control what abalone eats but is getting him a nutritionist and a ln S n C coach. Was interesting as it indicates Martin has little discipline. It also said Martin is a veggie. Not sure if that makes dieting any more difficult.

[Ruthless-RKO]

'I COULDN'T BELIEVE THE SCALES' - TRAINER BILLY NELSON 'DISAPPOINTED' WITH MARTIN BAKOLE'S WEIGHT ISSUES
Martin Bakole's trainer Billy Nelson admits he 'couldn't believe the scales' when his fighter weighed in at just under 300lbs for his clash with Efe Ajagba last week in Saudi Arabia.

Bakole (21-2-1, 16 KOs) reportedly weighed in at 315lbs before his 2nd-round stoppage loss to Joseph Parker in February, but having taken the fight on 24 hours notice, the Congolese heavyweight was handed a proverbial pass.

Last August, Bakole put in the performance of his career on the undercard of Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov when he knocked out Jared Anderson in five rounds, weighing in at 284lbs the day before.

The target weight for Bakole's fight with Ajagba (20-1-1, 14 KOs), which ended in a majority draw on the Canelo-Scull undercard, was similar to that, but the 21-year-old hit the scales at 299lbs, something which came as a shock to Scotsman Nelson.

"I'm not giving him any excuses whatsoever, I'm in the gym with Martin, I'm not with him 24/7, I can't determine what goes in and out of his mouth," Nelson told Louis Hart for The Ring.

"When I left two weeks ago to go to Wales, he was 20st 6lbs, and he was going to Saudi the following day, so I assumed that, easily, he'd have hit 20 stone, which meant he'd have lost 35 pounds [since the Parker fight], which was our target.

"I couldn't believe the scales...I never weighed him because he was looking good in the gym, he came in at 299lbs so I'm disappointed in that respect."

Bakole made a slow start in his bout with Ajagba, and had arguably only won a round or two by the time the 7th stanza had finished. While he finished strong, it wasn't enough to get the nod on the cards, and plenty of observers thought Ajagba did enough to walk away from Riyadh with his hand raised.

The scores read 96-94 Ajagba and 95-95 twice.



Nelson is adamant that an in-shape Bakole would have stopped Nigerian Ajagba. He also stated that Bakole's ongoing weight issues need to be addressed, or he won't have a future in the sport as a champion.

"Whether Martin likes it or not, we're getting a nutritionist," Nelson added.

"The problem with [that], what people don't understand is Martin is a vegetarian and he's a bit stubborn in the respect he doesn't eat much British food, he eats African or Congolese food and he buys it in certain shops in Glasgow, so I don't know...but a nutritionist would help, undoubtedly.

"He's got to be a lot stricter, much more strict and disciplined with himself, and I'm also bringing in an American strength and conditioning coach. I think that will be very beneficial for Martin.

"He's got to understand it, or he'll not have a future, or the future I know he's capable of. I was disappointed, I've seen him do things in the gym I've not seen other fighters do. To see the condition [he was in], the belly...for me that's a substandard Martin Bakole performance, he's so much better than that.

"A slimmer version of Martin Bakole would've stopped Ajagba, he'd have closed the distance down, got more shots off. People say he wasn't fit but he won rounds 8, 9 and 10 clearly, so the fact he's carrying that extra timber is not good at all."