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With IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois withdrawing on Thursday, Joseph Parker (35-3) will now face Martin Bakole (21-1) on Feb. 22. It’s time to proceed our boxing odds series with a Joseph Parker-Martin Bakole prediction and pick.
Parker, 33, has quietly been one of the underrated heavyweights over the past two years. Since suffering a late knockout loss to Joe Joyce in 2022, Parker has gone 5-0, including notable wins over former champions Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang in his last two outings.
Bakole, 31, rides a 10-fight win streak into this short-notice opportunity. He’s coming off the most important win of his profession, an enormous upset of former undefeated prospect Jared ‘Big Baby’ Anderson. The 2-day notice can be an enormous hurdle for Bakole to beat, but Bakole’s current run has him ranked as a consensus top-five heavyweight contender.
Listed below are the Joseph Parker-Martin Bakole odds, courtesy of Fanduel
Boxing Odds: Joseph Parker-Martin Bakole Odds
Joseph Parker: -190
Martin Bakole: +148
Tips on how to Watch Joseph Parker vs. Martin Bakole
Time: 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT
Co-main event ring walk time (estimated): 4:45 p.m. ET / 1:45 p.m. PT
TV/Stream: DAZN pay-per-view
*Watch sports LIVE with fuboTV (Get Access / Save $30)*
Why Joseph Parker Will Win
Since he initially became a world champion in 2016, Parker has been consistently criticized for his apparent lack of chin strength. He has been knocked down 4 times in his last 13 fights, a discouraging rate for an aspiring two-time titleholder. Nonetheless, despite being dropped twice by Zhang in his last fight, Parker is coming off back-to-back wins over two of essentially the most powerful punchers of all time.
Without much power of his own, Parker earns his paychecks along with his unmatched speed. When he has success, his hand speed often freezes opponents. It caused each Wilder and Zhang to turn out to be increasingly hesitant because the rounds ticked off the clock. Low volume is infamously Wilder’s kryptonite but is uncharacteristic of Zhang, who currently has the very best plus-minus within the heavyweight division with a plus 11.2, per Compubox.
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With Bakole flying in from Scotland lower than 48 hours before the fight, the potential internal battles he’ll face simply to get into fighting condition will likely already make him sluggish within the ring. He is of course a plodding fighter to start with as considered one of the biggest heavyweights in boxing.
Why Martin Bakole Will Win
All but five of Bakole’s profession wins are by knockout. If he’s going to drag off the upset and complete a ridiculous turnaround, he might want to beat Parker the identical way. Despite only one loss since 2019, Parker has been dropped 4 times in his last eight fights.
Bakole has not had too many cardio issues in his profession but has never fought past round 10. Nonetheless, along with his current brutal travel schedule, he’s unlikely to beat a faster fighter like Parker within the later rounds. Parker could be a slow starter at times, a gray area Bakole has to use if he wants his trip to be definitely worth the trouble. Parker has talked about bulking up all fight week and can reportedly be the heaviest of his profession for this fight. As someone previously known for his hand speed and movement, that may need been a miscalculation against Dubois and is definitely not find out how to beat a slugger like Bakole.
Nonetheless, even with Parker’s additional weight, he’ll still be much faster and lighter than Bakole. That drawback didn’t matter much to Bakole in his last fight as he battered across the light-footed Anderson until stopping him within the fifth round. Bakole’s durability was on full display against Anderson, who was not capable of hurt him. That will serve the Congolese well against Parker, who has three knockouts in his last 10 fights.
Final Joseph Parker-Martin Bakole Prediction & Pick
Parker has to get credit for accepting this short-notice fight, as there may be a number of risk involved and never much for him to realize. Bakole, an explosive power puncher in his athletic prime, suits the mold of the precise variety of fighters who’ve given Parker troubles currently while brimming with confidence off his recent win. Perhaps Parker merely didn’t want his preparation to go to waste, but this will not be the standard fill-in alternative.
Bakole may not have the identical power as Zhilei Zhang or Deontay Wilder — Parker’s last two opponents — but is far more lively than each aging former champions. He averages over 65 punches thrown per round, essentially the most of any top 10 heavyweight, per Compubox. For comparison, Parker throws 21 fewer punches per round. The extent of competition is clearly notable, but given Zhang knocked Parker down twice in his last fight, Bakole truly needs only one to land.
Even with the travel and potential fatigue concerns, Parker could have to cope with Bakole in his face for so long as the fight lasts. In accepting the fight, Bakole seemingly acknowledges he has only a handful of rounds in him. The situation clearly favors Parker, but the percentages are close for a reason; Bakole is just considered one of the hardest matchups for him within the division. With the minimal information available, Bakole’s knockout prop is greater than price a half unit.
Final Joseph Parker-Martin Bakole Prediction & Pick: Martin Bakole by KO/TKO (+210)
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