‘Most ridiculous deal ever made’ – How new fight was made in record time after Dubois vs Parker dramatically called off
BEN SHALOM reckons drafting in Martin Bakole as a late replacement for Daniel Dubois against Joseph Parker is the “most ridiculous deal ever made.”
Boxing fans were left stunned on Thursday when it emerged Dubois was too ill to fight this weekend.
The heavyweight champ was looking to defend his IBF heavyweight world title against Parker, having triumphed over Anthony Joshua in his last match.
But Dubois was ruled out of the crunch battle with illness.
And Congolese star Bakole will instead fight Parker as the co-feature before Artur Beterbiev’s rematch with Dmitry Bivol.
Bakole was in the Congo when he got the call from Saudi Arabia and accepted immediately.
He is now travelling the 3000-mile, seven-hour journey by plane to Riyadh.
And it means fans can breathe easy knowing they will not be denied a top clash at Saturday’s event.
Now, boxing promoter Shalom has lifted the lid on how quickly the deal was sorted.
He claims he messaged Bakole’s team while Dubois’ absence was being confirmed at a press conference.
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And Shalom claims the boxer jumped at the opportunity, with contract terms agreed at lightning speed.
Indeed, the promoter reckons it’s the “most ridiculous deal ever made”, with Bakole jumping in at just 48 hours’ notice and risking a second defeat on his incredible 22-1 professional record.
Shalom said: “This is the most ridiculous deal I’ve ever done. You know we like to do things, take our time.
“Daniel got injured. I saw the tweet like everyone did from The Ring magazine. I actually thought ‘that’s not true’. I thought it was a stunt.
“And then I was speaking to Martin’s team while I was at the press conference, while it was going on, and saying, ‘Would we take this fight?’
“They’re like, ‘100 per cent we are in’. So I texted saying, ‘We’re in, we want this fight, if there’s an opportunity this is the only fight to make’.
“A bit of back-and-forth, by then I’d forgotten there’s a press conference going on. I’ve come off, walked, done a few laps.
“I’m on the phone, we got a deal done very, very quickly, no messing around. Martin want it, gets on a flight ready to go.
“There’s still a lot of work to do, the medicals and all sorts but it’s happening and we’re going to get him here.
“It’s unbelievable and he deserves a huge amount of credit because no other heavyweight on planet Erath would operate like this, two days knowing he has Joseph Parker.
“Martin got a call two hours ago, in the Congo… he’ll probably finish his meal and then he’ll come and that’s what he’s about.”