Martin Bakole’s second-round knockout loss to WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker last Saturday night has cost him his chance to fight in an IBF-sanctioned title eliminator against Efe Ajagba on May 2nd. Although the Bakole vs. Ajagba clash will still happen, it won’t be an eliminator.
Eliminator Gone
Dan Rafael says he’s been told by an IBF spokesman that Bakole is “out of the eliminator” and that they’ll be looking for the next “available contender.” Bakole reportedly got a payday of $600,000 for his fight with Parker; some believe it could be higher. However, losing out on the IBF title eliminator opportunity is terrible.
Martin’s chances of defeating Ajagba to become mandatory for the IBF belt would have been high, and there’s a lot more money he could have made battling for a world title. Now, Bakole is stuck in a situation where he will need to slowly claw his way back to where he was before his loss to Parker. It took him eleven years to get in position to be on the verge of fighting for a world title.
With the Bakole-Ajagba fight no longer being an IBF eliminator, Bakole would be better off pulling out of the contest and focusing on facing a more prominent name. Even a rematch with Jared Anderson would be preferable to fighting Ajagba (21-1, 14 KOs).
310 Pounds
In hindsight, Bakole (21-2, 16 KOs) shouldn’t have agreed to face Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) with two days notice without a training camp. Bakole weighed in at 310 lbs and was not in the physical condition to have a good chance of winning. Despite being overweight, Bakole staggered Parker in the first round but was too slow to finish him.
It would have been a winnable fight for Bakole if he’d come into it in the kind of shape that he was in for his victory over Jared Anderson last August. He weighed 284 lbs in that contest and was more agile.
News: After getting KO’d by Parker on Saturday, Martin Bakole is ineligible for the May 2 IBF heavyweight title eliminator he was set for vs Efe Ajagba. “Bakole is out of the eliminator,” an IBF spokesperson said. “We will move on to the next leading available contender.” #boxing
— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) February 26, 2025
Last Updated on 02/26/2025
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