Joseph Parker vs Martin Bakole made in record time – Ben Shalom
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Promoter Ben Shalom told ESPN he has “never made a fight that quickly” after arranging for Martin Bakole to fight Joseph Parker on Thursday as a late replacement for Daniel Dubois.
Dubois was supposed to defend his IBF heavyweight belt against Parker on Saturday in the co-main event alongside the Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol rematch.
But, in an extraordinary few hours in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Dubois was taken ill and the fight against Parker became doubtful. With a new opponent potentially needed, Boxxer CEO and Bakole’s promoter Shalom called his fighter, who is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and arranged the fight.
At the start of Thursday’s pre-fight news conference, Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren stated the said that his fighter was “being evaluated” by doctors. Shortly after the news conference ended, Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs) had been confirmed as the replacement.
“Unbelievable, I’m trying to take it in,” Shalom told ESPN. “We heard about the Daniel Dubois illness and then we started putting [Bakole] forward and really wanted the fight.
“I was up on the press conference trying to get it done and then I had a couple of calls with His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] and it was done.
“It’s pretty incredible, I’ve never made a fight that quickly.”
Bakole was in the Congo when Shalom called and will fly more than 2,000 miles to arrive in Riyadh on Friday before fighting Parker (35-3, 23 KOs) on Saturday.
“He didn’t give 1% hesitation, that’s when I knew we had to make the fight,” Shalom said. “He’s been waiting for moments like this he doesn’t give a s— if it’s two days’ notice.
“If he can pull this off against a Joseph Parker who is coming in his best ever shape, best ever condition to win a world title, to do it on two days’ notice, he should get a huge amount of credit.
“He’s ready to win on Saturday night.”
Source: espn.com