Boxing thread

[thierry henry]

It's an incredibly good short notice fight but I hate this fight for Parker. I think there's some good money to be made on Bakole by KO. I see him walking Parker down and casually boshing him all over the ring.

 

[thierry henry]

Also, Parker coming in heavy is probably even worse against Bakole than Dubois. With Dubois, he's big but not Bakole-big and you could maybe say that he's shown some fragility and there's an outside chance that if Parker goes to war and takes it into the later rounds he might wear him down.

With Bakole, he's in the Zhang/Joyce category of massive juggernaut where Parker should purely be trying to win with superior speed and absolutely not getting caught in a slugfest. If he's trained to be big and strong and "bully the bully" like he keeps saying, Bakole is a terrible match up.

 

[Bahnz]

Yeah. The main thing in Parker's favour is that Bakole's not been in camp and is coming into this completely cold - though that will make it even worse for Parker if he loses. Bit surprised that Kabayel wasn't promoted to the co-main, with Bakole being flown in to fight Zhang - though that would've obviously involved more moving parts.

 

[hendrix]

Yeah. The main thing in Parker's favour is that Bakole's not been in camp and is coming into this completely cold - though that will make it even worse for Parker if he loses. Bit surprised that Kabayel wasn't promoted to the co-main, with Bakole being flown in to fight Zhang - though that would've obviously involved more moving parts.

Hasn't Bakole been in camp for the Ajagba fight?

 

[hendrix]

Also, Parker coming in heavy is probably even worse against Bakole than Dubois. With Dubois, he's big but not Bakole-big and you could maybe say that he's shown some fragility and there's an outside chance that if Parker goes to war and takes it into the later rounds he might wear him down.

With Bakole, he's in the Zhang/Joyce category of massive juggernaut where Parker should purely be trying to win with superior speed and absolutely not getting caught in a slugfest. If he's trained to be big and strong and "bully the bully" like he keeps saying, Bakole is a terrible match up.

If you look at Takam vs Bakole, Takam was actually doing ok when he pushed Bakole back, but he kinda lost confidence when he got hit a few times, and Takam's chin is getting a bit dodgy these days.

You can't let Bakole take centre ring in my opinion. I think you either out gun him like Zhang would (IMO) or you stay in close. I don't know if either are really Parker's game.

 

[thierry henry]

If you look at Takam vs Bakole, Takam was actually doing ok when he pushed Bakole back, but he kinda lost confidence when he got hit a few times, and Takam's chin is getting a bit dodgy these days.

You can't let Bakole take centre ring in my opinion. I think you either out gun him like Zhang would (IMO) or you stay in close. I don't know if either are really Parker's game.

Interesting - tbh I haven't watched that much of Bakole so I'm probably painting with a broad brush and I may be off the mark about the best way to beat him. I mostly just have the general idea from the Anderson fight that if Parker goes at Bakole, Bakole will probably brush off a few decent shots and then piece Parker up with harder shots. Like Parker - Joyce but against a more fluid puncher (albeit without Joyce's work rate).

But yeah regardless, even if it's better for Parker to try to pressure Bakole (and perhaps the extra weight isn't such a bad thing), I still don't think he has the attributes to succeed that way.

 

[Bahnz]

Hasn't Bakole been in camp for the Ajagba fight?

I think his promoter said this morning that he's not yet started his camp for the Ajagba fight, and that he's actually flying in from DRC rather than Scotland.

 

[Bahnz]

Interesting - tbh I haven't watched that much of Bakole so I'm probably painting with a broad brush and I may be off the mark about the best way to beat him. I mostly just have the general idea from the Anderson fight that if Parker goes at Bakole, Bakole will probably brush off a few decent shots and then piece Parker up with harder shots. Like Parker - Joyce but against a more fluid puncher (albeit without Joyce's work rate).

But yeah regardless, even if it's better for Parker to try to pressure Bakole (and perhaps the extra weight isn't such a bad thing), I still don't think he has the attributes to succeed that way.

Bakole was certainly throwing a Joyce-esque volume of punches in the Anderson fight (65-75 punches per round during rounds 2-4). Whether he can keep that volume up for long in his current condition is unknown, but if Parker goes down as easily as he did v Zhang he might not need to.

I've also seen sfa of Bakole besides that fight. He got beaten by Michael Hunter - though I understand that was largely due to a shoulder injury that left him unable to do anything besides throw out ineffective jabs in the later rounds, so not sure how much you can read into that.

 

[hendrix]

Interesting - tbh I haven't watched that much of Bakole so I'm probably painting with a broad brush and I may be off the mark about the best way to beat him. I mostly just have the general idea from the Anderson fight that if Parker goes at Bakole, Bakole will probably brush off a few decent shots and then piece Parker up with harder shots. Like Parker - Joyce but against a more fluid puncher (albeit without Joyce's work rate).

But yeah regardless, even if it's better for Parker to try to pressure Bakole (and perhaps the extra weight isn't such a bad thing), I still don't think he has the attributes to succeed that way.

Tony Yoka tried to box on the outside against Bakole and couldn't manage it. Yes, I get that Yoka has shown himself to not really have the heart for professional boxing but he has excellent amateur pedigree, a long rangy jab and good quality traditional footwork. He basically got beaten up the whole fight.

Michael Hunter on the other hand showed a willingness to box at mid-range and inside. Anderson tried to do the same thing but wasn't slick enough. And to be fair to Bakole, he's a much better fighter now.

Dunno.

I feel that Bakole is somewhat overrated at the moment but I agree that it is a tough stylistic match up for Parker. I think e.g. Zhang or other heavy punchers would destroy Bakole. Andy Ruiz too would be interesting.

 

[hendrix]

I understand that was largely due to a shoulder injury that left him unable to do anything besides throw out ineffective jabs in the later rounds

Dunno about that to be honest.

Even before the supposed injury, it was a pretty even fight but Hunter was coming on much stronger.

 

[Stefano7]

I agree, Yoka is technically good, but he clearly lacks character in the pros. Bakole looks powerful, but I wouldn't say he's a top fighter yet. It would be difficult for him against punchers like Zhang or Ruiz. Parker would also be an interesting fight, but right now, it seems like Bakole is in better shape.

 

[hendrix]

Reports are that Bakole has actually been in camp for 8 weeks and was just taking a short break in the congo.

Something about this whole thing seems very dodgy.

 

[Niall]

Reports are that Bakole has actually been in camp for 8 weeks and was just taking a short break in the congo.

Something about this whole thing seems very dodgy.

Was he not in a camp for Ajaba fight? Although a bit weird that was never formally announced .

Its a nice fight , but just odd how we got here.

 

[Bahnz]

Lol, Parker weighs in at 267. Jfc.

 

[Bahnz]

I mean don't get me wrong he looks in good shape, but being nearly 30lbs overweight is not going to help in the one area (stamina) where he should have a massive advantage (by virtue of not having hopped off a 10 hour transit at 3am the day of the fight).

 

[Bahnz]

Reports are that Bakole has actually been in camp for 8 weeks and was just taking a short break in the congo.

Something about this whole thing seems very dodgy.

Bakole unofficially weighing 315 according to reports. Was 291 I think for the Anderson fight, so whatever work he's been doing is definitely a work in progress.