Is Parker's win on Bakole overlooked?

Bakole literally had no camp. Parker had a full camp. Parker SHOULD have blown out Bakole given that. And he did.

 

Bakole had done literally nothing since the Anderson fight, and it was clear his corner told him they were pulling him out the moment he looks in trouble. He was starting to get into a groove, got whacked good by a right, tanked it, then got whacked good by a shot to the top of the temple which scrambled his balance. He fell, his corner didn't even give him a chance to recover and waived it off.

I don't know what can be read from that. We saw Bakole tank plenty of hard rights from Ajagba next fight without issue.

 

Bakole is overrated but it's not easy to knock out such a huge man early, Parker's punch looked like it just grazed Bakole but it was a good punch that disoriented Bakole...

 

I mean Parker did what he had to do, it was a good win but Bakole was incredibly overrated on this forum.

 

That Bakole was so obese he could barely get off his stool.

Parker did what he had to do but it's hard to count it as a more than a routine win.

 

In terms of quality? No.
In terms of how he did it? Yes.

Parker seemed to bring a different approach to the Dubois fight, which translated over to the Bakole fight, and this little tidbit is overlooked by most fans. Is Parker really sitting down more on his punches, or was it merely a one off gameplan? I am rather curious to see which one it is, because of how it would match up with someone like Wardley.

 

No. I don’t take much from it for either fighters. Not a great win for Parker and not a loss for Bakole that would honestly show his level or hold against him (sometimes you gotta go for the money) BUT coming out of shape for his ajagba fight and being easily beaten by a boxer that can work on the back foot is way more damaging to Bakoles legacy in my eyes

 

Parker showed his courage by taking the fight with Bakole at the last minute.

 

I would actually watch a rematch with King Hippo Bakole and Parker… I was so hyped for that fight, I was ecstatic to learn DDD pulled out, it was looking good till “pop” went my bubble. I always picked against Parker for his last showings but in his most recent years I’ve realised how much grit he’s had, I believe he’s faced the hardest line of opponents next to Chisora lately and even historically for a contender… AJ, Whyte, Ruiz, Zhang, Bakole, Wilder, Wardley, Joyce, Takam. That’s a helluva career, Parker is only 33 by today standards he’s potentially got up to 5-7 more years of boxing, JP can literally outlast Usyk if he losses and maybe beat the 2nd best guy around to become THE champ and that’s exciting to me, there’s a window here for Parker and maybe 2 more in his future there’s also a door to being a “great” if based on nothing more then achievements depending how the next 5 years go.

 

I think its pretty accurately rated around here. Decent name, Parker beat him easily, but Bakolr was last minute and mis-represented his status to get the fight.

He had apparently been in camp already, and ready to hop on a plane and come fight. But when he showed up it was clear he hadn't actually been in camp, and was out of shape.

What is a little bit underrated imo is the manner in which Parker dispatched Bakole, most had Parker winning, but had him fighting on the outside until Bakole gassed and then going on the offensive. Instead Parker took the fight to Bakole and KO'd him with a single punch.

A lot of people don't want to consciously admit to Parker's improved power, but the talk around Parker's power has changed, he has gone from being seen as one of the lightest punchers in the division, to a someone with a bit of pop and decent punch now.

 

Look at Bakole and Ajagba at the end. Bakole looked fresh. Ajagba looked like he’d been through a war that he lost. That fight isn’t being looked at right. What happened there was that Bakole came in too damn fat and couldn’t properly chase a guy he’d have otherwise knocked senseless.

Bakole’s typical defense is blocking punches with his face (as per compubox, he has the worst defense in all of boxing) and he’s too slow on his feet because he’s coming in 40lbs overweight. But when it’s at work properly, his offense is something to behold. He strings together effortless combos with those cinder block hands.

he’ll end up a what if. He had a lot to work with. Didn’t come close to making the most of it. But he’s fun to watch while he’s around.

 

Bakole came for the money and probably was prepared to quit, knowing he wasn't going to win.

People have a creepy soft spot for Parker somehow and give him ridiculous credit for nothing. If that had been Fury and he'd fought Bakole in those circumstances the credit he'd get would be zero.

The problem with Parker is that he hasn't fought the other actual contenders going around like Dubious and Kebabyal, just the old men. So we need to see him against those characters to really judge his form. The last time he fought a contender he was destroyed by the unstoppable Joyce who Zhang easily KO'd twice. So that's not a good sign. I think both Dubious and Kebabyal would beat Parker but they're all B fighters so it's hard to know.

 

Parker absolutely destroyed Bakole. Can't do any more than that.