After a scheduled IBF heavyweight title shot against Daniel Dubois suddenly fell through, Joseph Parker remained interim WBO heavyweight champion on Saturday by stopping Martin Bakole in two rounds.
The fight served as the co-main event to Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Parker worked his jab over the course of the first round, leading the way in attack as Bakole seemed to try and conserve energy. That did him nothing, however, as the New Zealander landed a right hand to the top of his challenger’s head in the second round. This caused Bakole to stumble and fall to the canvas.
The Congolese behemoth made it to his feet, but the fight was stopped, as Bakole still did not have his feet under him.
Joseph Parker KOs Martin Bakole In Two Rounds
Parker has now won six straight fights, which includes decision wins over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang, the latter of which won him the WBO interim title last March. The Kiwi was scheduled to be stripped of the interim belt originally upon the start of his matchup with Dubois.
Parker is the WBO mandatory challenger for WBA/WBC/WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk, but there have been previous talks of Usyk facing Dubois in order to gain an undisputed heavyweight champion in boxing once again.
Meanwhile, Saturday’s result snapped a 10-fight win streak for Bakole.
