PROMOTER Ben Shalom has broken down the chaos that ensued as his fighter Martin Bakole stepped in at the 11th hour to save the co-main event in Riyadh this Saturday.
After IBF heavyweight title holder Daniel Dubois, 22-2 (21 KOs), withdrew from his title defence against Joseph Parker, 35-3 (23 KOs), due to illness, Congo native Bakole, 21-1 (16 KOs), stepped in on two days notice and will collide with Parker for the New Zealander’s WBO interim title. The winner will become the mandatory challenger to Ukrainian pound-for-pound king Oleksandr Usyk.
The 33-year-old Bakole was scheduled to face Efe Ajagba in May in an IBF title final eliminator. However, the opportunity to become the mandatory challenger for a heavyweight world championship has come a lot sooner than the proclaimed bogeyman of the division would have thought.
His promoter Shalom, speaking to Boxing News, described the events that took place.
“I was on my way to the press conference and saw the Ring Magazine tweet that we all saw about an illness (to Dubois). At that point I spoke to Martin’s team, and they said 100 per cent go and get us that fight.
“I texted His Excellency while I was up on stage and afterwards got back on the phone to Turki and he got it done.
“I was probably the first one to find out because I did the deal on the phone”, he added. “I put my phone in my pocket and was walking around thinking I’m not going to say anything out of respect to Riyadh Season and His Excellency. I’m gonna keep this quiet, let me go and speak to Martin and the team. Next thing I know, my phone is blowing up and it’s been announced within 30 seconds.”
Bakole punished highly rated prospect Jared Anderson last time out on the undercard of Terence Crawford’s clash with Israil Madrimov, beating up the American with vicious uppercuts – leading to a fifth-round stoppage.
“I think a lot of credit has to go to Bakole because there’s no other top 10 heavyweight would operate like this. He’s just decided, no hesitation, that he wants this fight on Saturday night.
“He’s a very popular heavyweight now but I think every boxing fan should fall in love with him for this. I still believe he’s gonna win. He’s at 60 per cent, hasn’t had a camp.
“I’m in awe of the man; a heavyweight fighter that’s on the brink of a huge opportunity himself with Ajagba and credit to His Excellency because no one else could pull this off.”
