Bakole had garnered the label of "the boogeyman of the heavyweight division," with his power, size and ability to walk down opponents leading to trouble finding opponents. To Parker's credit, he jumped at the chance to face Bakole after Dubois pulled out of the bout, taking the IBF heavyweight title with him.

On February 22, at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the latest loaded Riyadh Season event took place. On this historic card, we saw Joseph Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) face the late replacement Martin Bakole (21-2,

Bakole was forced to catch two flights to Saudi Arabia and only arrived on the day of the fight, where he was subsequently defeated inside two rounds by Parker. Speaking afterwards, Hearn stressed that he believed it was the wrong choice to accept the bout, especially with an IBF title eliminator looming in May for the star.