Martin Bakole is still processing his short-lived fight with Joseph Parker.
The African heavyweight stepped in to take on Parker at the very last moment. The New Zealander was due to fight Daniel Dubois for the IBF world title but the Brit fell ill with under 48 hours to go. He was pulled from the card but a last-minute stand-in was found, with Bakole flying in from his native Congo and even reporting that he fell asleep in the changing room on the night of the fight.
Bakole was not in camp but has been in good form of late, winning his last two fights against tough opposition in Carlo Takam and hot young American prospect Jared Anderson, both by knockout.
Parker too has put together some good wins in the last 18 months by beating Zhilei Zhang and former WBC champion Deontay Wilder, both on points.
He quickly got to work in the ring and though he took one or two shots himself, in the second round he landed a thudding right hand on the top of Bakole’s head which sent him to the canvas. Although he rose, it was on unsteady legs and his trainer Billy Nelson had the referee stop the fight.
Speaking to iFLTV, Bakole was asked about the end of the fight.
“I think everyone knows what happened. But to be honest I did not see the punch. It’s boxing, anything can happen at heavyweight.
I’m sitting with my coach asking me why I’m not getting a second chance and he said no, watch the video, but I’ve not seen the video. I thought I was going to recover and come back again like Parker did to Big Zhang. But thank god no I had a coach next to me who said he would stop the fight.”
He was then asked about the power of the finishing punch, describing his reaction as ‘what the hell?’.
“It catch me on top, I’ve not even seen the punch, my hand was here, and I just felt like oh what the hell?”
