‘He’s One Dangerous Man’: Joseph Parker Discusses Martin Bakole Challenge

On February 22, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Joseph Parker (35-3, 23 KOs) will face late replacement Martin Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs) following the withdrawal of Daniel Dubois due to illness. Both Parker and Bakole have been lauded with praise for accepting the fight on short notice and the Kiwi fighter has spoken to The Stomping Ground about his upcoming bout and how dangerous his opponent is.

Joseph Parker Breaks Down the Challenge of Martin Bakole

Parker Discusses Dangerous Bakole

When speaking to The Stomping Ground, Parker acknowledged the dangers Bakole presents: “Martin Bakole. I know it’s not for the world title, but he’s one dangerous man, and I respect him for taking the fight.

“And I respect him as a fighter and what he’s achieved, and it’s going to be a fantastic show. I know we’re not fighting for the title. We’re not fighting Daniel Dubois but I wish him well and hopefully, he can get better and back on his feet soon.

“This is the best card. We wanted to make it, if not the same, even better. So I feel like with Martin Bakole, he’s a tough challenge that no one wanted to fight. But I say this, I’ll fight anyone and everyone,” Parker said, discussing the importance of the card and his mindset toward facing any opponent.”

Summarising the event and his hopes, Parker said: “Fighters are always in shape, but he’s travelled a long way to get here, so hopefully he can get here, rest, recover, and get all his energy for fight night so we can put on a great show.”

This heavyweight fight should give us plenty of fireworks, with Bakole’s power against the ring generalship of his Kiwi opponent.

Joseph Parker vs Martin Bakole Full Fight Card

• Main event: Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol – for WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring belts
• Joseph Parker vs Martin Bakole – Heavyweights
• Shakur Stevenson vs Josh Padley – for WBC lightweight title
• Carlos Adames vs Hamzah Sheeraz – for WBC middleweight title
• Vergil Ortiz Jr vs Israil Madrimov – for interim WBC super-welterweight title
• Zhilei Zhang vs Agit Kabayel – for interim WBC heavyweight title
• Joshua Buatsi vs Callum Smith – for interim WBO light-heavyweight title
• Ziyad Almaayouf vs. Jonatas Rodrigo Gomes de Oliveira, 6 rounds, welterweights
• Mohammed Alakel vs. Engel Gomez, 6 rounds, super featherweights

Stay with Big Fight Weekend for coverage of Parker vs Bakole, including results and video highlights, and post-fight analysis.