Parker weighed in at a career-high 267 lbs on Friday, while Bakole got the call to step in just 48 hours before the event. The Congolese fighter will arrive in Saudi Arabia in the early hours of Saturday morning, leaving little time to prepare.
The sudden change has got the boxing world buzzing. Bakole, a top heavyweight contender, jumped at the opportunity despite the short notice. The fight will take place on the undercard of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol light heavyweight championship rematch.
Fellow heavyweight Derek Chisora, who has fought Parker twice and been linked to a bout with Bakole for years, shared his thoughts on the matchup. In an interview with FightHype, Chisora predicted a knockout win for Bakole:
"Martin Bakole is a warrior and full respect to my brother for taking this big step up. He hasn't trained for a while, we have to understand that, he's going to be overweight and I believe rounds 1 to 3 are going to be hard for him, but after that he's going to get into the groove and he's going to knock Joseph Parker out."
Chisora thinks the first three rounds will be tough for Bakole due to his lack of recent training and extra weight. However, he believes Bakole will find his rhythm after that and eventually stop Parker.
Top boxing pundit Teddy Atlas also weighed in, suggesting Bakole could actually prove to be a tougher test for Parker than Dubois would have been.
The sudden nature of this heavyweight showdown has created a lot of intrigue. Boxing fans will have to tune in on Saturday to see if Bakole can overcome the odds or if Parker can capitalize on his full training camp advantage.