You mean the guy that was KOd badly by a "middleweight" with a stiff jab??? Yeah... Bakole messes him up badly by 5
Would be a fun fight, both like to come forward and throw bombs. Fight could go either way. Bakole has no head movement and is awfully easy to hit and he really hasn't had to face a puncher like Dubois but Bakole too has serious power to hurt Dubois and while Dubois showed he can actually move his head a bit now, he's far from slick. I see them both taking big shots and testing each others chin. I'm leaning to Bakole in the first half, but if the fight goes into the 2nd half I can see Dubois taking over as Bakole's tiny gas tank empties and gets stopped. When you have two flawed punchers like this anything can happen.
Pretty much exactly how I see it. Bakole has a better chance of pulling it off in the first 5-6 rounds, but then it flips around... I might even go so far as to give Dubois a slight advantage overall but it's not by much at all. Just to add... Whoever won would probably have a new "best win" for the resume (for now). Dubois is probably slightly better proven for now, with Miller and Hrgovic being a bit better highlights than Yoka and 44yo Takam... But not enough so that there's levels between the two.
Great fight. Would like to see this in early 2025. And that's assuming if both Dubois and Bakole lose to AJ and Zhang respectively. Which I think the two will probably lose to them. Both will be pushing it on the front foot, Dubois has much more power than Anderson, and more experience in these kinds of fights than Bakole, the Joyce, Miller and Hrgovic fights were great learning fights for Dubois. I think Bakole is pretty similar stylistically to those guys listed. Its a tough fight to predict, both fighters have rather poor defences and are easy to land on. Dubois can still be pretty pedestrian sometimes especially under pressure and Bakole can cause him all sorts of problems with his shot selection. I am going to say Dubois gets to the big punch first to stop Bakole early from rounds 3-5 in a short but great fight. Although, I can defo also see Bakole stopping Dubois early.
Bakole has already stopped him twice in sparring and he's bigger, faster hands, more fluid, with an excellent jab of his own, nasty uppercuts, wider punch arsenal and he's a great combination puncher with a much better chin too. Dubois possesses the power to knock him out if he catches him clean often enough but the same applies to Bakole only he'll finish the job as soon as he is able to put hands on him with consistency if not with one sustained attack and he has Dubois outgunned in most other departments too. Bakole via bear mauling again
Well, Bakole was stopped by a 43 lbs lighter Hunter, so there's that. With that said, I agree that Bakole's pressure probably would be too much for Dubois.
Dubois has faced better opposition than Bakole Remember most people gave Hrgovic the favorite against him. And Hrgovic was supposed to be a big puncher at some moments. Dubois ain't Anderson
Bakole has 30-40 + pounds on Hrgovic, hits harder, with a wider punch arsenal and a much more varied and less predictable offence. No way in hell Dubois is withstanding Bakole unloading his combinations on him. Heavy punches will be coming at him from every direction. Usyk dropped him with a three or four punch combination and obviously with a jab too.