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Tony Bellew makes his prediction for last minute Joseph Parker vs Martin Bakole heavyweight battle
Tony Bellew admires Martin Bakole for taking on such a big challenge at short notice, but he believes the heavyweight dangerman only has a short window to beat Joseph Parker.
Incredible scenes gripped the final press conference yesterday as news filtered around the place that Dubois was out of his world title defence due to illness and several names were immediately mentioned as a replacement .
The fighter who got the call, Bakole, accepted the challenge and he immediately set off to Saudi Arabia for the biggest opportunity of his career, which can be seen live on DAZN PPV .
For years, Bakole has constantly called out boxing’s biggest names looking to prove himself as one of the best and he will now have the chance to do that against the popular New Zealander.
Bellew, a former heavyweight campaigner and cruiserweight world champion, has provided plenty of credit for Bakole stepping up, but insists the lack of preparation could hurt his hopes.
“Listen, credit to both men for stepping up and keeping this amazing because this is a brilliant fight that has been put together at the last minute,” said Bellew when speaking exclusively to DAZN News .
“Parker should have too much in this due to his experience and also the fact he’s got a full camp behind him that I believe has gone very well.
“Bakole will be extremely dangerous in the first half of the fight, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him treat this like a four round fight and just go out and empty the tank for an early stoppage.
“That might be his best route to victory because fighting Parker on such short notice for 12 rounds is going to be very hard. This has everything to be a great fight though, and once again, I respect both men so much for stepping up.”
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