Heavyweight Joseph Parker fought Martin Bakole immediately after Shakur Stevenson stopped Josh Padley in the ninth round in a highly unsatisfying performance. Parker showed Stevenson, the WBC lightweight champion, how it should be done.
Parker was supposed to challenge Daniel Dubois for the IBF heavyweight title, but on Thursday, Dubois fell ill and was pulled from the bout. Bakole was in The Congo and hopped a plane that got him into Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at 2 in the morning. He weighed in at 310 pounds and stepped in to fight Parker.
After a slow first round, Parker blasted Bakole with a looping right over the top of a lazy left. Bakole tumbled backward and nearly somersaulted through the ropes. He was counted out and Parker had the impressive win.
After the first round, Parker listened as trainer Andy Lee stressed patience, urging him to break Bakole down. Parker executed nearly to perfection.
"The conversation was, Andy was breaking him down for me and said I had to be patient," Parker said.
He was and Bakole quickly went to sleep and earned a fast turnaround home.
Parker lobbied for a bout against either Dubois or unified champ Oleksandr Usyk next.
"I want to say, 'Who's next?' " Parker said. "How do I fight for the world title next? I want to fight for the world title. "