ANTHONY JOSHUA and Oleksandr Usyk shared the same stunned reaction after Martin Bakole’s KO.
Joseph Parker left his opponent flattened with a huge right hand in the second round.
Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua’s reaction when Joseph Parker knocked out Martin Bakole says it all
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It was a dominant display from the Kiwi but Bakole did not stand a chance given his late sign up.
Parker landed several big blows before finally toppling the 22st7 giant just five minutes and 17 seconds into the contest.
Bakole hit the canvas hard with Joshua and Usyk left stunned by the power on show from Parker.
The pair both screamed as Bakole went down and turned to look at each other, moths agape.
They shared a couple of words after a moment of stunned silence but looked amazed at what they saw from Parker.
Moments before his KO Bakole was able to shake off a big punch from Parker, but he must have felt the effect as the second rocked him.
He wobbled before hitting the deck – there was no chance of him making the count.
Parker, who was meant to fight Daniel Dubois before his withdrawal on medical grounds, could now fancy a fight against Usyk or AJ.
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Dubois also remains a potential opponent according to Frank Warren, though the heavyweight champion could also take on Usyk or Joshua according to his promoter.
Warren said: “I feel the perverse thing out of it is we’ve got more of an option now.
“I’d like to see the rematch with Usyk. That’s an option, if it can be done I’d love that.
“But then we’ve got Joe Parker, we’ve got AJ, who’s got over his injury and he may want to do it now with the fact he’s been ill, who knows?”
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STEPHEN BRADLEY and Tim Clancy both bemoaned the late postponement of Shamrock Rovers clash with Cork City – but acknowledged there was no other option.
The Hoops clash with City was postponed just 40 minutes before kick-off after torrential rain hit Tallaght that made the pitch unplayable.
It was in doubt for much of the day as the pitch passed inspections at 11am and 4pm, only for the worst of the weather to arrive just after that.
That led Rovers’ to delay opening the turnstiles, though there were still several thousand in the ground when referee Gavin Colfer was left with no choice.
Bradley said: “We had that monsoon for about a half hour. And both teams and the ref, everyone agreed it wasn’t playable.
“When you look at the surface water on the pitch, I think it was the right call. To be fair to the ref and the groundsmen, they tried to give it every opportunity to go ahead.
“Even at the end, we’re having a chat between us all, both managers, the referee, and the league and the question is if we let it go another hour…
“If it gave a chance of the game going ahead, I think we all wanted it – especially with Cork with the travelling fans.
“It wasn’t going to improve. They gave it every opportunity to get it on, but the groundsmen are telling us where the water goes is full, there is nowhere for it to go.”
Clancy added: “It’s not player safety, it wasn’t playable. It’s not like you could start the game and get it going, the pitch wasn’t playable.
“The amount of work that goes into this pitch is the reason why the women and Under-21 internationals are here. It’s a phenomenal surface.
“They said they could have another hour working on the pitch but the tanks were already full of surface water from the downpour in the last few days.”
“I feel sorry for our fans. They travel up today and 35 minutes before kick off it’s called off. The fans travelling in a wasted journey is the frustrating part.”
But Clancy, whose side drew their league opener with Galway United last week, dismissed the idea that it was a good time to play Rovers given they went to extra time and penalties against Molde last Thursday.
For Rovers’ part, they had a strong side selected for the game with eight of the starters against Molde, plus Aaron Greene, and Dan Cleary and Dylan Watts.
Clancy said: “You could say that, but they went to extra-time in the knockout stage of a European competition.
“So I think it would be a bit disrespectful for myself to say, yeah, this would be a great time to play them. Their team is littered with really talented players.
“It would have been a great time for us to play them because we are due a game this weekend.
“It’s a difficult place to go, so I’m just happy we are leaving here still unbeaten!”
Meanwhile, FORAS – the Cork City Supporters Trust – has called on the FAI to review its processes that led to the late postponement.
A statement read: “Hundreds of travelling supporters incurred expense and spent hours travelling to Dublin, having been twice assured the fixture would go ahead.
“FORAS is calling on the League to explain how it issued a notice to supporters at 4pm ‘confirming’ the fixture would go ahead, only to call it off a little over an hour later.
“Met Éireann had forecast heavy downpours and potential thunderstorms for the Dublin region on Sunday.
“As such, earlier inspections at 11am and 4pm should have taken into account the impact this further forecast rain would have had on a playing surface that has hosted two games since Thursday night.”
RTE Dancing With The Stars contestant Danny O’Carroll remained resilient on the dance floor despite receiving mixed reviews.
The hit RTE show returned tonight with the highly anticipated Orchestra Night, where each dance was performed with the RTE Concert Orchestra in the studio.
Danny and his pro partner Salome Chachua performed a sensual salsa to Lionel Richies All Night Long.
For his saucy dance tonight, Danny donned a vibrant pink short-shirt on stage that he paired with a black t-shirt and pants.
While his partner popped on a stunning orange and pink floral midi dress.
The pair weren’t all looks as the judges were blown away by their performance and gave the pair some glowing reviews.
Arthur Gourounlian started the judge’s comments with: “Oh, Danny. I can watch you dancing all night long. It was a feel-good, vibrant salsa for me, and you really captured the spirit of the dance, and I can see the joy in your movement.
“Now, let’s talk about your hip action; sexy the way you actually pulled up your shirt while moving around. And also, not only that, the transition, but with the moves were smooth, you guys looked like you were living your best life in the club in Cuba, seriously, infectious, dynamic. I loved it.”
Brian Redmond said: “Danny, you’re sort of starting to get the hang of this dancing thing. You were cool, suave, sophisticated, but still had some energy. I mean, I’ve never seen a boy from Finglas look as Afro Caribbean as we’ve seen tonight.
“I mean, the technique was there. The energy was there. There was one part I wasn’t that mad about. It was the bit in the middle where you were doing the sort of keepie uppie, like football style with Salome.
“I thought that was a bit third division rather than Premier League. But, you’re starting to become a real contender. Well done. Danny.”
Karen said: “I feel Dan, you have full on like Swayze vibes tonight. I love the whole look, and I kind of disagree with you [Brian Redmond] with the keepie-uppi, that takes skill to have someone’s head on your foot while you’re spinning around.
“I was impressed by that. Then getting into the salsa, it looked like you took a real relaxed approach, and it looked easy, which it’s not. You sold that to me.”
Loraine Barry added: “Well, for me, it was definitely a Danny pool, and I think everyone’s mentioned it. You were very chill, very relaxed. But it wasn’t that you weren’t doing anything. It was just that inner rhythm, and it went through from the hips into the shoulders. But also what I liked was the balance between them.
“We always see Salome. And I liked the way you sort of drew us all in to watch you. It was like all inside and that, but you were there for partnering skills a hand over again, the turns were there and the lips. So I actually liked you tonight a lot.”
Danny walked away with one of the highest scores of the evening receiving a respectable 33 from the judges tonight.
However viewers at home appeared to be a lot more divided over the performance than the judges.
Cai said: “That salsa fell a bit flat, his free arm is dead, overall it felt static. But no doubt the judges will over mark it.”
Drew said: “Overmarked again.”
Anthony gushed: “Danny Just gets better week in week out. Looking like a major contender for the competition with every new dance…”
Sue said: “I love Danny, hope he gets to the final.”
Another viewer added: “A 9?! ‘Dynamic’ is the last word I’d use to describe that salsa. As much as I love Danny, the judges consistently over mark him.”