Being viewed as the boogeyman of any division is an honor. In layman’s terms, it means that you are the uncrowned king, the man no one wants to face, and arguably the best fighter around.
Martin Bakole earned that moniker. He’s always been impressive throughout his career but a fifth-round stoppage win over Jared Anderson on the Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov bill last August pushed him over the edge in the minds of many.
This past weekend, however, a bit of shine may have been wiped from his name. Although he had just 48 hours and needless to say, zero time to prepare, Bakole stepped in to take on Joseph Parker for the WBO interim heavyweight title.
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While it wasn’t ideal, countless fans and fighters believed he could get it done. Ultimately, they were wrong.
Bakole’s night went about as bad as possible. Following a fairly even first round, the 33-year-old was brutally stopped in the second. Now, whispers of Bakole (21-2, 16 KOs) being vulnerable are running rampant. Nevertheless, for those who believe he should no longer be feared, Bakole thinks otherwise.
“I’m still the boogeyman,” said Bakole to Seconds Out immediately after.
There was some irony associated with the way things played out. Moments before he hit the canvas, Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) landed a picture-perfect right hand. Once it connected, Bakole paused, shook his head and continued moving forward. Seconds later, another shot placed him on the deck.
The critics that have come out the woodwork aren’t making a ton of sense to Bakole. Not only did he have no time to prepare, but also wants everyone to take a closer look at how things played out. He stopped short of calling it fluky but did reveal that it was the sort of blow that’s hard to defend against.
“The punch came from nowhere. This always happens to everyone,” he added.
