Joseph Parker crushes Martin Bakole in second round, calls out Usyk

Joseph Parker trounced late sub Martin Bakole in Riyadh and has his sights on Oleksandr Usyk.

Joseph Parker took a dangerous fight when he accepted Martin Bakole as a late substitute opponent, but the former heavyweight titlist retained his interim WBO belt with a second round TKO victory.

Bakole came in at 310 lbs on the scales and clearly was not in his best condition, with plenty of question about how much or even if he’d been training recently, and he was down when caught on the top of the head with a right hand in round two.

Bakole’s corner waved off the fight.

Parker (36-3, 24 KO) also came in at a career-high weight of 267 lbs, which is nearly 20 lbs heavier than he was a year ago to fight Zhilei Zhang, but he looked in good, strong condition, and while he didn’t have to do much in this one, the weight certainly wasn’t any negative on his side.

Credit should still be given to Bakole (21-2, 16 KO) for stepping in on two days’ notice, replacing IBF titleholder Daniel Dubois, who fell ill earlier this week.

Parker could now seek a new date with Dubois, but he also has WBC/WBA/WBO titleholder Oleksandr Usyk on his mind.

“Thank you for accepting the challenge and flying all the way here,” Parker said to Bakole after the fight. “Who’s next? Can I fight for the world title next? If Usyk wants a dance partner, I’d like to fight for the world title.”

Parker, 33, has certainly fought his way into position, doing all he can with what has been given to him in his last three bouts — wins over dangerous punchers Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang, and Bakole — in particular.

For Bakole, also 33, this shouldn’t be a devastating defeat or anything. In one sense, sure, it is, but he took a big risk taking the fight at all, and if there’s one thing you can say as a clear positive about Turki Alalshikh as a promoter, it’s that he doesn’t have the fear of fighters losing that we’ve seen from traditional promoters over the years, accepting that tough matchups do lead to one of two good fighters losing a fight. Bakole will get another opportunity and chances to redeem himself.