Oleksandr Usyk was ringside to watch Joseph Parker take on Martin Bakole.
It was a whirlwind week in Saudi Arabia, where Parker was initially set to challenge Daniel Dubois for his IBF heavyweight title.
On Thursday, it was announced that Dubois was suffering from illness and had to pull out of the fight, leaving Parker without an opponent for Saturday.
To the shock of many, it was top contender Bakole that was brought in as the replacement, with the Congo man having to take two flights and only arrived into Saudi Arabia in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Bakole hadn’t been in full training before taking the fight and weighed in at 315lbs, with his trainer Billy Nelson feeling his man had six or seven rounds in him before he may begin to tire.
The fight didn’t even reach that stage, with Parker blasting out Bakole inside two rounds to claim a dominant knockout victory and potentially set-up a re-arranged title fight with IBF champion Dubois.
The other world titles are currently held by Usyk, who was in attendance to watch the Parker vs. Dubois fight, and he gave a simple answer to IFL TV when about the New Zealander’s performance.
“Parker prepare for this fight. Bakole I think no.”
The card in Saudi Arabia also saw Dmitry Bivol defeat Artur Beterbiev in their highly-anticipated rematch to become the undisputed light-heavyweight champion, and Beterbiev has revealed what he plans to do next after the defeat.
