Joseph Parker vs Martin Bakole Preview Feb. 22nd, 2025
Former WBO Beltholder Joseph Parker of New Zealand takes on Martin Bakole of the Democratic Republic of the Congo this Saturday, Feb. 22nd. The 12-rounder from Saudi Arabia can be seen live on pay per view in most nations. Parker was supposed to fight IBF Beltholder Daniel Dubois, but he pulled out of the fight and was replaced by Bakole. Parker last saw action in March when he got up from the canvas in rounds three and eight to beat Zhilei Zhang via a 12-round majority decision for the WBO Interim Heavyweight Crown while Bakole stopped Jared Anderson in the fifth round of a slugfest in August to capture the WBO International Heavyweight Title as well as the vacant NABF Heavyweight Crown.
Parker vs Bakole Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Martin Bakole +155
- Joseph Parker -185
My Pick
The 33-year-old Parker, who is now based in England, enters the bout with a mark of 35-3 with 23 Ko’s. He won the regular WBO Title in December, 2016 by beating Andy Ruiz Jr. by majority decision but lost it via unanimous decision to Anthony Joshua in March, 2018 in a unification bout. His second defeat was a controversial 12-round unanimous decision to Dillian Whyte in August, 2018 for the vacant WBO International and the WBC Silver Heavyweight Titles and his third and last loss was to Joe Joyce in September, 2022 when he was stopped in the 11th round of a slugfest for the vacant interim WBO Crown.
Parker has pretty good power in his punches as 65.7 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage but has gone the distance in 11of his last 17 fights with all three of his losses coming in his last 14 outings. Earlier in his career, Parker’s power was his strong point but he’s had to depend on his underrated boxing skills and hand speed more often in the past few years. He went the distance five times in a row from 2016 to 2018 against Whyte, Joshua, Hughie Fury, Razvan Cojanu and Ruiz before stopping Alexander Flores, Alex Leapai and Shawndell Winters all in a row between December, 2018 and February, 2020.
Since then, he’s beaten Junior Fa and Dereck Chisora (twice) by decisions before falling to Joyce and rebounding with a points win over Jack Massey, a first-round stoppage of Faiga Opelu, a third-round win over Simon Kean and a unanimous decision over Deontay Wilder. Parker needs to be able to fight the full three minutes of every round if he’s forced to. He landed several bombs against Joyce but was worn down and out of gas when stopped with just five minutes to go in the fight. Parker won the WBO Oriental Heavyweight Championship by stopping Brian Minto in seven rounds in 2014 and has won several other regional heavyweight titles.
These include the WBO Oriental, OPBF, WBC International and WBO Inter-Continental Crowns. Parker also has wins over Alexander Dimitrenko, Carlos Takam, Marcelo Luiz Nascimento, Kali Meehan, Bowie Tupou, Jason Pettaway, Frans Botha and Sherman Williams. Parker turned pro in 2005 after an excellent amateur career and has 250 rounds under his belt since. He also has decent size for a modern-day heavyweight at 6-feet-4-inches with a 76-inch reach.
Parker’s not the most athletic and mobile boxer in the ring though and generally has trouble against fleet-footed and mobile opponents. He also leaves himself open for counter shots but doesn’t mind taking one or two punches to land one of his own. His chin has been pretty reliable so far after being tested quite often even though he was halted by Joyce and dropped by Zhang. Parker needs to instill a killer instinct as he staggered Joyce on several occasions and waited far too long to go after Dillian Whyte as he virtually had him out on his feet just as the bell rang and paid the price for not letting his hands go earlier.
The 32-year-old Bakole is one of the new bigger breed of heavyweights at 6-feet-6-inches tall with an unlisted reach and is two inches taller than Parker. He owns an impressive mark of 21-1 with 16 Ko’s and also possesses better-than-average average power as 76.2 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage including 10 of his last 12. Bakole made his pro debut in 2014 and has boxed just 85 rounds since and is the younger brother of former WBC Cruiserweight Champion Ilunga Makabu.
The lone defeat on Bakole’s record came at the hands of Michael Hunter by way of a 10th-round TKO in 2018 in a shot at the vacant IBO Inter-Continental Heavyweight Crown. Bakole injured his right shoulder in that fight before it was halted. Since turning pro he’s also captured the IBO Inter-Continental Heavyweight Title by beating Ali Baghouz by first-round KO and the vacant republic of Poland International Heavyweight title with an eighth-round stoppage of Mariusz Wach in 2019.
Bakole, who fights out of Scotland, also beat Tony Yoka as he edged him by a 10-round majority decision in May, 2022. In addition, he has victories over veteran journeyman Kevin Johnson and beat Sergey Kuzmin via a 10-round unanimous decision for the vacant WBC International Heavyweight Belt in December, 2020. At this stage of his career, Bakole needs to step up the level of opposition and it’s fair to say that this is a great test for both boxers.
Prediction…
Parker’s power hasn’t been evident lately as he’s used his boxing skills to frustrate Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang. He won’t want to get into a brawl with Bakole but needs to land something significant to stop him from charging forward. It wouldn’t surprise me if either guy went down for the count or if it goes the distance. Bakole and Parker should both be confident after their past few performances and the fight will come down to power, chins and the will to win. At his best, Parker should be able to handle Bakole, but anything can happen with a last-minute replacement and Bakole may jump all over Parker here as he sees this fight as an excellent chance to earn recognition as a top-tier heavyweight. Give both boxers credit for taking this fight on such short notice but I think Parker may regret it as Bakole may be peaking at the right time and I give him the slight edge here.
Bakole’s power and new-found confidence may do the trick.
Play: Bakole +155 @ BetOnline.ag
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Joseph Parker betting • Martin Bakole betting