Joseph Parker’s Saturday fight night was plunged into uncertainty when his slated opponent, Daniel Dubois, pulled out two days before the first bell.

IBF heavyweight champion Dubois suffered an illness which sparked a last-minute scramble for Parker’s team, as well as Saudi Arabian organisers, to find a new challenger for the hotly-anticipated co-main event in Riyadh.

The man who promptly stepped up to the plate is Martin Bakole. At the drop of a hat, the 31-year-old’s week, and potentially the rest of his life, has completely transformed.

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According to The Times, Bakole was hard at work clearing a patch of farmland in his home country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo when he got the call-up to fight Parker. Not long afterwards, he was bundled on a plane and flown to the Middle East.

Bakole and his camp have long complained about being one of the most-avoided fighters in the heavyweight division. He had been preparing for a final eliminator against Efe Ajagba in May, but with the opportunity to compete in the biggest fight of his career landing in his lap, he jumped at the chance to face Parker at just 48 hours’ notice.

“This is unbelievable,” he said. “It feels like I’m dreaming. I think I will shock the world tomorrow. A boxer is like a soldier. Anytime they ask you to go to war, always be ready, no matter what.”

With his purse estimated to be in the region of £1.6million, Bakole is also on course for a bumper payday. The 6ft 6in slugger, who boasts a professional record of 21 wins and only one defeat, was born in Kananga but moved to the Scottish town of Airdrie in 2016.

His trainer, Billy Nelson, has been singing his praises ever since. “Martin is by far the best fighter I have ever trained,” said the Scot. “He is technically fantastic, naturally gifted, which makes my job a bit easier but the most important part for me is just tweaking some of the areas, fight management and guiding him through. He really is a fast learner.”

Bakole is from good fighting stock. His older brother, Ilunga Makabu, was a world champion at cruiserweight and fought the likes of Tony Bellew and Badou Jack.

Now, Bakole is ready to catapult himself into the big time. The Congolese has sparred with heavyweight big shots like Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua, while he claims to have caused serious problems for the man he replaced.

“I sparred Daniel Dubois twice and I stopped him twice,” he said. “He knows and his team knows. I would stop him in the first or second round. People are hiding away because they don’t want to fight me.”

After IBF Heavyweight World Champion Daniel Dubois fell ill, it took just hours for Martin Bakole to step up to the plate as a late replacement for Joseph Parker.

Parker was all set to challenge for Dubois’ belt before the 28-year-old Brit reportedly came down with a viral infection and was deemed ineligibly to compete by the doctors.

Enter Bakole, who was visiting his home country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, when he got the call to step in. Reports say he and his team did not hesitate, even despite the lack of a training camp and gameplan for one of the most in-form heavyweights in the division.

@boxxerofficial

That feeling when you step in on 2 days notice to fight Joseph Parker on the biggest fight card in history 🔥 #boxing #thelastcrescendo #beterbievbivol2 #parkerbakole #martinbakole #bakole #congo

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The 31-year-old dubbed ‘the most avoided heavyweight on the planet’ was set to fight an IBF final eliminator against Efe Ajagba in May to earn a shot a the winner of Dubois-Parker and was set to enter camp in Scotland soon.

Bakole has weighed as his as 282 pounds on the scales and fans expect a heavy man come fight night. In fact, fans looked at his most recent social media post from February 14 and worried that he will be in nowhere near fighting shape.

One fan on Instagram commented, “this is a setup for failure. I hope you didn’t take the Parker fight.” Another said on X, “he could be 300 pounds” and someone then addressed the bettings odds: “Now I understand why he’s the underdog.” With a prediction of only having a good ‘three rounds’ in him for the bout from one observer, a Bakole win would indeed make an incredible statement.

Promoter Ben Shalom told Seconds Out he believes his charge is the only heavyweight on the scene who would take such a risk.

“From their perspective they’re probably thinking, if we’re ever going to have our best chance against Martin Bakole it’s on two days’ notice, let’s get him out the way … Martin on two days’ notice flying in from the Congo deserves a huge amount of credit.

“It’s not ideal preparation for any fighter. When Martin’s got no hesitation and is 100%, I’m not gonna stand in the way of a fighter. I couldn’t quite believe the speed of which he wanted this fight and he deserves a huge amount of credit. I hope this puts him in the hearts of every boxing fan in the world because there’s no other heavyweight, I believe, in that top 10 that does this … If he wins on Saturday night this is the biggest statement in the division for a long time … Joseph Parker has just had a twelve week ultimate preparation … Martin is taking it on 48 hours and has to travel from the Congo.”

All credit should go to Parker, too, who showed excitement at the idea of a last-minute fight against Bakole, who’s latest stoppage of American Jared Anderson may have permanently changed the trajectory of Anderson’s career.