Within a couple of hours of it being rumored that Daniel Dubois had suffered a viral infection and would therefore be unable to defend his IBF heavyweight title, Joseph Parker had the name of a new opponent.
His opponent on Saturday is now going to be Martin Bakole, the Congolese heavyweight currently based in Scotland, who has agreed to step in and fight Parker at just 48 hours’ notice.
“Joseph Parker will now face Martin Bakole in a heavyweight clash on Saturday night after Daniel Dubois was ruled out due to illness,” announced The Ring via their social media account this evening.
Bakole has been hungry for an opportunity like this for a while and, although the timing is perhaps not ideal, he seemingly had no hesitation in taking it when offered to him. In fact, his trainer Billy Nelson jumped on social media not long after news of Dubois’ illness broke in order to write the following: “We have instructed our promoter to tell the appropriate people that Martin Bakole is ready to fly to Saudi Arabia to fight Joseph Parker. No problem whatsoever.”
It appears Bakole, 21-1 (16), has got his wish.
