THE Last Crescendo fight card, dubbed the card of the century, suffered some last-minute twists and turns during fight week. Firstly, Floyd Schofield pulled out from his contest with Shakur Stevenson, leading to 15-0 Josh Padley getting the call-up during fight week.
Whilst everyone loves an underdog story, there were no expectations for Padley to pull off an upset against a pound-for-pound great in Stevenson. However, Padley showed terrific heart to get off the canvas three times in round nine until his corner threw in the towel.
As if that wasn’t enough, Daniel Dubois was then forced to pull out over illness. Step forward the man who dubs himself the most avoided heavyweight. Receiving the call on 24 hours’ notice to be Dubois’ replacement, Martin Bakole flew in, landing the morning of fight day. Bakole had finally been offered his chance to place that elusive feather in his cap – should he pull off the win against a fully trained Parker.
Parker had other plans as he dusted off Bakole within two rounds with a perfect looping right hand that landed on the top of Bakole’s skull to knock off his equilibrium, forcing his corner to stop the contest.
If Bakole had been afforded a full camp and appropriate preparation for this fight, who knows how it might have played out? Like many before him, Bakole ‘rolled the dice’. While it didn’t pay off on this occasion, his stock should not suffer from the loss. With the circumstances up against him, he dared to be great.
Whilst many may feel Bakole is now a derailed hype job, instead I think nothing can be taken away from him. However, there is pressure on him to deliver a punch-perfect performance in his next outing. If he does do so, the Parker blemish will be a thing of the past.
To play matchmaker, with Usyk declaring he only has two fights left in him, Parker has battled through everyone in front of him and deserves his shot at gold. With Agit Kabayel’s excellent stoppage of Zhilei Zhang, it would be fantastic to see Kabayel face off with Daniel Dubois in a title eliminator, with the winner earning a title shot.
Martin Bakole was scheduled to take on Efe Ajagba on May 2 in an IBF final eliminator bout in New York. Whilst Ajagba and Bakole are still slated to go head-to-head, the IBF have removed the final eliminator status due to Bakole’s loss. If this bout does fall through, a perfect alternative is ripe for the making.
With Zhilei Zhang and Bakole both coming off losses, a 10-rounder between the two would be a perfect way for the winner to propel themselves back into big fight conversations, with the loser left facing retirement.
