Would it have been better to have Kabayel fight Parker today? and have Zhang fight Bakole? Zhang and Bakole were both going to have stamina issues. And Kabayel and Parker both had full camps. I think this fight would have made a lot more sense but i am not sure if Kabayel and Parker would have agreed.
It would have been better to sub in someone who was in shape. AJ was already there, and he’s never not in shape. I think he even mentioned that he volunteered to do it. He may well have lost to Parker, but he wouldn’t have walked in with such a big disadvantage. Credit to Bakole though for trying. It was good for Kabayel to have that Zhang fight. He’s going to get a ton of respect now. He didn’t get on a bike and pitty pat his way to a decision. He stood toe to toe with Zhang, and straight up whooped his ass and knocked him out. Off that performance, he deserves the Usyk fight.
Yes but in hindsight. Kabayel went into last three fights as the underdog and needed to beat Zhang (his biggest named and established opponent yet) to get his plaudits and credit he deserves. You expect it has to one of Dubois, Parker Kabayel to be fighting Usyk next. The two that miss out on Usyk should fight each other next (ideally on the undercard as Co main event).
No way does Zhang step out of the Kabayel fight to take a lesser fight. He was the favourite for the Kabayel fight beforehand lets not forget. He is not fighting the tub of lard in the side show instead...for what reason would he do that?
All UK bookies had Zhang as a clear favourite and DAZN had Zhang as the 58% favourite. Its safe to say he was the favourite in most countries and platforms. I guess you are referring to New Zealand market here?
Zhang was the better fight for Kabayel. His previous wins were against Makmudov and Sanchez - both hyped up prospects rather than contenders. Stopping Zhang is legit and Kabayel deserves his flowers. What this means is if DDD fights Usyk, we will probably get a final eliminator between Parker v Kabayel. It's a shame as both these guys deserve title shots, but it will be a cracking fight between the two top contenders. Or - worst case scenario - AJ suddenly finds himself an opponent in either Parker or Kabayel and muscles back into title contention. That or we get Usyk v Parker/DDD v Kabayel, which would be an insane card.
They have contractual obligations. Why mess three fighters around, two of which are in an unconnected fight.
Yep this. While Parker/Kabayel and Zhang/Bakole would have made for a better card in the end it would have required breaking contracts between Zhang and Kabayel, so wasn't really a viable option. Suddenly changing on opponent when there is no reason to, isn't something a fighter would want unless there was a huge pay day or a title shot available and even then they may not want to do it.
