On the day of the official pre-fight press conference on Thursday, it was announced that IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois had been taken ill and was being evaluated by doctors.
Soon after, it was confirmed that Dubois was out of his co-main event bout with Joseph Parker.
It put Parker’s participation on the blockbuster fight card in doubt, but after a flurry of backstage conversations in Riyadh, it was confirmed that Martin Bakole will now be stepping in to face Parker for the Australian’s interim world title.
Bakole has agreed to step in on less than 48 hours’ notice, with the 21-1 contender looking to score a dramatic short-notice victory to put himself right in the mix at the sharp end of the heavyweight division.
Parker, meanwhile deserves huge credit for accepting such a dangerous substitute opponent on short notice. He’s been in the ring with heavy hitters Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang in Riyadh, and he defeated them both.
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Speaking to Casinobeats.com, former WBC cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellew said that Bakole offers a serious threat to Parker’s contender status.
“Martin Bakole is a good fighter,” he said.
“I wouldn’t touch him with a barge pole if I was in the heavyweight division.
“He’s a problem. At that kind of size, with that kind of power, he’ll be quicker than most of the heavyweights around because he’s been used to dealing with cruiserweights for so long.”
The Parker vs Bakole matchup has, if anything, added to the intrigue ahead of fight night in Riyadh, with the X-factor of Bakole’s 11th-hour arrival on the fight card adding a degree of excitement that wasn’t there beforehand.
The main event rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol is as high-grade a contest as boxing could make in 2025, while the rest of the card is stacked with world title fights, including another short-notice addition, with Josh Padley stepping in during fight week to replace Floyd Schofield against Shakur Stevenson.
