Martin Bakole has been up close and personal with Joseph Parker and has since assessed his chances against Daniel Dubois.
Bakole stepped in as a late replacement to take on Parker last weekend on a huge card in Saudi Arabia. He flew in last minute from the Congo, arriving at 2AM on the morning of the flight and even sleeping in the changing room ahead of the fight.
Parker was due to be getting a shot at the IBF world title in possession of Dubois, however ‘DDD’ took ill days before and was withdrew from the card.
The win is another good one for Parker, who is one of the form men in the division. In his two previous fights, he came through a double knockdown acre against Zhilei Zhang to secure a points win, and managed to stay clear of the power of Deontay Wilder to also pick up a points victory over the American.
Parker is now hoping he will still get his shot at Dubois as soon as he is fit and well.
Speaking to The Stomping Ground, Bakole was asked who he thought would have won between Parker and Dubois.
“If you watch the interviews I was picking Joseph Parker to beat Daniel Dubois because of movement and his boxing brain. His elusiveness.
“Daniel Dubois, we saw it against Usyk, he struggled with someone who is moving a lot. So I think that was going to happen. We saw a different Joseph last night because everything changes, I was not Dubois. He was fighting someone who was moving and someone who is [tougher] than Daniel.
“I was for Parker to win. That was my opinion from the beginning.”
The Parker bout was a voluntary defence for Dubois, so he is more likely to go straight into an undisputed fight with Oleksandr Usyk once he is back in action rather than look to reschedule.
