Two great Heavyweight fights among the card in Riyahd today.
The top fight is #2 Joseph Parker vs. #5 Martin Bakole, a last-minute replacement for #4 Daniel Dubois. Bakole weighed in at 315 pounds roughly, to Parker's 267.
Parker vs. Bakole probably starts around 4:30 5:20 eastern time
Live update: Fighters entering ring. Fight is beginning
- Fighters mostly stationary, at mid-distance. Good jab lunge by Parker. Body shot by Bakole. Very different fight than Kabayel-Zhang for sure. Decent body shot by Parker, who is more active, Bakole waiting for opening. Parker caught in corner so he clinches late in round. Bakole gets in a right uppercut but Parker did more work in a sparse first round. Parker 10-9.
- Bakole moving in now instead of standing still. Parker good 1-2, Bakole gets hit coming in too. Now Parker coming forward gets countered by Bakole. Pretty even first half of round. Bakole getting stung by short shots in tight. Parker great right but Bakole takes it, but Parker hits Bakole with hook to top of head, Bakole wobbles and falls down, he can't get up to the ref's satisfaction and Parker wins by TKO!
Parker TKO 2 Bakole
Stoppage was maybe a little early for some tastes but Bakole got up facing the ropes. Would have to see that again at full speed to judge. Bakole was clearly overweight and only flew in at 2am the previous night, so minus 25 pounds and an actual training camp, the result would have been different—at least, Parker wouldn't have gotten a 2nd round TKO. I'm sure Bakole got paid a lot for his last-minute replacement.
Parker solidifies his hold on the #2 spot that he just took over from Tyson Fury this month. A fight with #1 Oleksander Usyk is certain to happen hopefully this year. Bakole will drop to the lower reaches of the top 15.
Undercard fight:
#7 Agit Kabayel (25-0-0) vs. Zhilei Zhang (27-2-1) was early on the card. A great bout for an undercard fight.
Kabayel weighed in around 240, Zhang about 290. That's the big difference in this fight, as well as Zhang's age (41) vs. Kabayel (32).
Live update: Fighters are being introduced. Fight is starting.
Round-by-round scoring:
- Zhang scores early, Kabayel increases his distance. Ring looks small with both guys in there. Zhang fires and Kabayel returns fire well. A lot of winging hooks from both guys. Zhang backs Kabayel up to the ropes. Awkward clinch near the end, another left from Zhang. Close round to Zhang 10-9
- Agit goes to body early, a lot of activity, Zhang fires back, lots of back and forth in first minute. Rock'em sock'em robots right now. Zhang covering up mostly, firing back occasionally. Big right from Kabayel, Zhang takes it well. Volume this round is insane! Solid uppercut from Zhang, Kabayel throws 10 smaller punches. Agit close in to keep Zhang from stretching out punches. Good round for Kabayel; 19-19
- Agit starts where he left off with high volume, big body punch from Zhang. Both focusing on body. Zhang tying up, wrestling. Big left from Zhang, no reacting from Agit. More body punches from Kabayel. Strong jab from Zhang, several punches from Agit. Agit moving forward as the aggressor, 2 solid upperuts from Agit, Zhang returns. Same crazy workrate as round 2. Kabayel's higher workrate takes another competitive round. Kabayel 10-9; 29-28
- Kabayel right into close range with body shots once again, annoying Zhang. Zhang pushes him away and gets a warning from the ref. Uppercut from Agit has Zhang take notice, he looks tired. Zhang's return shots aren't affecting him. Another warning from the ref for pushing. Big punch from Zhang doesn't faze Agit. Agit's workrate relentless. Connecting at will, and Zhang's return shots don't have a lot on them, luckily for Kabayel. Kabayel 10-9; 39-37
- Kabayel starts right back up again. Zhang's corner wanted him to step back and fire, and he finally does, with a left hook that sits Kabayel down on the canvas! He's right back up but Zhang is on him. Agit tries to re-assert control, he looks ok midway through the round. Round after the knockdown was mostly Agit, but he didn't get a knockdown. Zhang 10-8; 47-47
- Agit right back on the horse, Zhang is very tired. Kabayel body shot leads to an almost knockdown? Ref pulled Agit away, but Zhang hadn't gone down, so he started it back up, and no knockdown is called. Weird. Zhang is barely hanging on to Agit in the clinch. Taking a lot of body shots, lots of cumulative punishment but still hasn't gone down, now he finally does. Zhang might not get up, he didn't! Agit Kabayel KO Zhilei Zhang round 6
Big win for Kabayel, who will move into the top 5 in the SportsRatings Heavyweight Top 100. Zhang will drop into the lower reaches of the top 25.