Parker vs Bakole

Who won Parker vs Bakole?

Joseph Parker beat Martin Bakole by knockout in the 2nd round on Saturday, February 22nd, 2025, at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 12 rounds in the Heavyweight division, which meant there was no weight limit.

This contest was for the WBO heavyweight championship of the world.

was making his 2nd defense of the WBO Interim World Heavyweight Championship. He won this belt against Zhilei Zhang in March 2024.He had held this belt for 1 year and 16 days.

This fight appeared on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev losing to Dmitry Bivol for the IBF World Light Heavyweight, WBA Super World Light Heavyweight, WBC World Light heavyweight and WBO World Light heavyweight championship. Also on the undercard Carlos Adames beat Hamzah Sheeraz for the WBC World Middleweight belt, Vergil Ortiz Jr defeated Israil Madrimov, Zhilei Zhang was defeated by Agit Kabayel for the WBC Interim World Heavyweight championship, Joshua Buatsi lost to Callum Smith for the WBO Interim World Light Heavyweight championship, Shakur Stevenson defeated Josh Padley for the WBC World Lightweight championship, and Ziyad Almaayouf was victorious over Jonatas Rodrigo Gomes de Oliveira.

Parker vs Bakole stats

Joseph Parker stepped into the ring with a record of 35 wins, 3 losses, and 0 draws, 23 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

Martin Bakole made his way to the ring with a record of 21 wins, 1 loss and 0 draws, with 16 of those wins by knockout.

The stats suggested Bakole had a slight advantage in power over Parker, with a 76% knockout percentage compared to Parker's 66%.

Joseph Parker was the older man by 2 years, at 33 years old.

Parker had a height advantage of 1 inch over Bakole. Despite this, Bakole had a 1-inch reach advantage.

Both Joseph Parker and Martin Bakole fought out of an orthodox stance.

Parker was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 16 more fights, and made his debut in 2012, 1 year and 8 months earlier than Bakole, whose first professional fight was in 2014. He had fought 165 more professional rounds, totaling 252 compared to Bakole's 87.

Joseph Parker went into the fight ranked number 5 by the IBF at heavyweight.

Martin Bakole was ranked number 2 by the WBA, 4 by the WBC, 2 by the WBO, and 3 by the IBF in the Heavyweight division.

Parker vs Bakole form

Parker had won 5 of his most recent fights, stopping 2 of them, going the distance 3 times.

In his last fight before this contest, he had defeated Zhilei Zhang on March 8, 2024, by majority decision in their WBO Interim World Heavyweight championship fight at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Prior to that, he had defeated Deontay Wilder on December 23, 2023, by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Simon Kean on October 28, 2023, by knockout in the 3rd round at Riyadh.

Before that, he had won against Faiga Opelu on May 24, 2023, by technical knockout in the 1st round at Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne, Australia.

He had beaten Jack Massey on January 21, 2023, by unanimous decision in their 10 round contest at Manchester Arena, Manchester, United Kingdom.

Bakole had won 5 of his most recent fights, stopping 4 of them, going the distance once.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had defeated Jared Anderson on August 3, 2024, by knockout in the 5th round at BMO Stadium, Los Angeles, United States.

Prior to that, he had defeated Carlos Takam on October 28, 2023, by technical knockout in the 4th round at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Going into that contest, he had won against Ihor Shevadzutskyi on April 22, 2023, by technical knockout in the 3rd round at Rzeszow, Poland.

Before that, he had defeated Tony Yoka on May 14, 2022, by majority decision in their 10 round contest at Accord Hotels Arena, Paris, France.

He had beaten Haruna Osumanu on September 18, 2021, by knockout in the 1st round at Sport Society, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Joseph Parker had been fighting more than Martin Bakole.

Going into this contest, Joseph Parker had last fought 11 months and 14 days ago, while Martin Bakole's last outing had been 6 months and 19 days ago.

Parker's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 1 month and 1 day, which means he had been fighting approximately every 5 months and 1 day. In those fights, he fought a total of 38 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 7.6 rounds on average.

Bakole's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 5 months and 4 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 8 months and 7 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 23 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 4.6 rounds on average.

What time did Parker vs Bakole start?

The fighters were expected to ringwalk at around 10:10 PM UTC at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which was 5:10 PM EST or 2:10 PM PST on the West Coast of America, or 10:10 PM GMT in the UK.

Who broadcast Parker vs Bakole?

Parker vs Bakole was broadcast on DAZN PPV in both the United States and the UK.

What were the odds on Parker vs Bakole?

Joseph Parker was a 8/15 (-170) favorite going into the contest, while Martin Bakole made his way into the ring at 3/2 (+150) with oddsmakers.