Rather than focussing on Parker’s chances, this is more realistically a test for Bakole. If he wins he validates (most of) the hype. however, Parker may expose his limitations, much like Hunter did a few years ago. Hunter is a dangerous guy, but Parker is a better fighter, and in rare form. Parker is the favourite for me.
I remember when Ray Mercer and Tommy Morrison were supposed to originally fight, but Morrison suffered a cut eye. Then the late replacement they found was Riddick Bowe. And Mercer freaked out when Bowe was selected, and faked an injury. (Which started a brawl between Mercer and Bowe's managers on Tuesday Night Fights). Then Seldon was brought in as a late replacement for Mercer. So Bowe fought Seldon. And Mercer and Morrison fought later in the year. So, in years gone by, it wouldn't be unprecedented if Parker bailed and they had to find someone for Bakole. But the money is a lot more now, so it's harder to walk away when a late replacement is put in front of you,.
Odds will be interesting. You backing Parker to box Bakole's head off? I backed Dubois by KO against Parker, I think this will be closer though. Bakole and Zhang are kind of similar in the way they fight, I think Parker will get dropped at some-point.
TBH I'm not as high on Bakole as a lot of people on here. But I generally think that if you have a size and strength disadvantage, you need better prep, not to mention that Parker seems to strictly follow Andy Lee's gameplans. Yea Parker should be the clear favorite, but in an ideal world, I would have rather seen them face either other with proper training camps.
I wonder if Bakole has started preparing for his Ajagba fight yet? If not I reckon he'll be close to 300lbs, I think Parker can do enough to beat him, but its a bit tricky to know where Bakole's ceiling is atm.
Both heavyweight fights (Bakole-Parker and Zhang-Kabayal) are toss-ups. And both could end early. Those are the kinds of fights I like. I'm not one to come online after a "technical fight" and argue for days about who scored which round for which guy. That is so boring to me. I've always preferred fights that end conclusively, by KO. So, Saturday seems pretty explosive, as far as the heavyweights go. Parker can bang, as well, when he has to.
In a strange way this fight could be more entertaining than Dubois vs Parker as Bakole has a higher workrate than Dubois and will force Parker out of his boxing style forcing him to fight more like Joyce did.