What motivated Martin Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs) to come out to fight a tough fighter like Joseph Parker (35-3, 23 KOs) fifty hours before the meeting if he clearly wasn't keeping in shape and showed over 140 pounds on the scale?
According to the media, the reasons were many, and to be more precise, 3 million 800 thousand. That's how many dollars will be transferred to the account of the Congolese for the risk he took. That said, the New Zealander, who originally planned to fight Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) for his IBF heavyweight title tonight, may have taken an even bigger risk.
For making the bold statement that he would have no problem facing anyone he was offered as a replacement, Parker will get a little more than he should have earned for the Dubois fight. Parker's fee will be $7.6 million dollars. That's exactly twice what Bakole will earn.
Bakole's promoter admitted that he's usually used to making agreements and contracts in a matter of weeks, whereas the negotiations with the Saudi only lasted fifteen minutes. But when someone pulls $3.8 million dollars out of his pocket, it's easy to negotiate, and it greatly adds to the desire to cut short his vacation in Congo.
