Martin Bakole didn’t get the win tonight but showed the heart that many know him for in even taking the fight against Joseph Parker.
Without training Bakole travelled continents this week to take on a prepared Joseph Parker who had trained for Daniel Dubois who was forced to pull out due to illness.
Speaking to IFL TV after his 2nd round loss a short time ago to Parker — Bakole said:
“I think everyone knows what happened. To be honest, I haven’t seen the punch yet today. But, you know, this is boxing—anything can happen, especially in the heavyweight division. As you can see, I’m sitting here with my coach. I asked him, “Why didn’t you give me a second chance?” He said, “No, watch the video.” Because, until now, I haven’t watched it. For me, I was thinking maybe I’d recover and come back, like Joseph Parker did against Big Zhang. But thank God I have a coach beside me who said, “No, no—as a coach, I’m sure I had to stop the fight.” It is what it is.”
He went on:
“Yeah, it caught me on top. I didn’t even see the punch because my hand was here—I never get punched there. I just felt like, “Oh, what the hell?” But I remember everything. I went down, and the referee, Joseph Parker, was in the corner watching me. I went down, and it was at four. I was trying to stand up, but my coach and everyone said I was too late because I was still struggling to get up. But no, it’s not the end. His Excellency said we have another fight in May still on, so I might take one week off and go back to the gym again.”
Bakole will be back.
As boxing expands into new places in the world all the time Bakole fighting in a stadium against a big name in Africa would be huge for the sport.
That and a big heavyweight fight for Zhang in China too.
