A Year Of Heavyweight Encounters Begins With Parker vs Bakole

The 2025 boxing calendar is shaping up to be another exciting one for fans, and much like last year (2024), the heavyweight division is expected to dominate the headlines and airwaves once again. This article will explore the recently announced Parker vs. Bakole matchup.

Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk were at the centre of attention last year, but Londoner Daniel Dubois also made his mark as the ‘best of the rest’ with a series of stellar performances. The 27-year-old, 6-foot-5 powerhouse was originally scheduled to feature on the stacked Feb. 22 Riyadh Season card. However, following the cancellation of Shakur Stevenson vs. Floyd Schofield, another major shake-up has occurred—Dubois vs. Parker is now off, with Joseph Parker set to face Martin Bakole instead.

Parker vs Bakole Kicks off 2025 Heavyweight Action

Dubois Illness Leads to Parker vs Bakole

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2025 was set to begin with Dubois defending his IBF heavyweight title before an illness left “Dynamite” unable to move forward with his scheduled world title defence.

On Saturday, following this last-minute drama, fearsome Congolese heavyweight Martin Bakole is stepping up on short notice to join the stacked card in Riyadh on Feb. 22.

Read More: Five Heavyweight Fighters to Watch in 2025

It seems logical that the winner of Bakole vs Parker will face Dubois once he’s recovered. That will all become apparent in time but before then, Parker will have to beat one of the most avoided heavyweights on the planet.

It could be a late night for boxing fans in the United Kingdom, as Joshua Buatsi v Callum Smith are set to kick off the first card at 16.45, and it is expected that Zhilei Zhang vs Agit Kabayel will follow at 17:40. Following these two will be Vergil Ortiz Jr vs Israil Madrimov and Carlos Adames vs Hamzah Sheeraz before Shakur Stevenson vs Josh Padley proceeds Joseph Parker vs Martin Bakole. Bivol and Beterbiev are expected to have their fight up and running at around 23.00.

Parker vs Bakole

Bakole showed how dangerous he is in his last fight as he dismantled and stopped Jared Anderson in the fifth round of their clash on the Terence Crawford vs Israil Madrimov undercard.

Parker has an excellent chin as ably demonstrated by the fact he has only been stopped once – by Joyce after a gruelling eleven-round encounter. He also moves his head well and is an accomplished counterpuncher and he will need all these attributes to overcome the ‘man mountain’ Bakole.

Read More: Anthony Joshua vs Martin Bakole: Rival Promoter Says ‘Eddie Doesn’t Want It’

With both fighters also coming into the bout in good form, the biggest question for many going into the weekend is simply whether or not Bakole is capable of stopping someone as experienced as Parker.

Parker vs Bakole could be the start of some very memorable and telling heavyweight clashes for the remainder of the year.