MARTIN BAKOLE is confident he will “shock the world” when he faces Joseph Parker after Daniel Dubois’ withdrawal.
Dubois, 27, was forced to pull out of his IBF world heavyweight title defence due to illness on Thursday – just two days before his hotly-anticipated fight in Saudi Arabia.
Parker, 33, will now fight the Londoner’s replacement Bakole, 31, on Saturday, as the co-feature main event before Artur Beterbiev’s rematch with Dmitry Bivol.
The Congolese boxer shared a message for his fans ahead of the last-minute fight.
The Scotland-based fighter issued a clip on Instagram showing him waiting at the airport where he was scheduled to catch his flight to Saudi Arabia.
And the heavyweight said he believes he will stun the boxing world in the weekend.
Bakole said: “This is it, this is unbelievable. It looks like I’m dreaming. But I’m not dreaming.
“I think I’ll shock the world tomorrow. I’m a boxer, a boxer is like a soldier.
“Any time they ask you to go to war, always be ready. Thank you so much.”
Bakole could be forgiven for arriving for his fight against Parker in less than optimal shape after agreeing to compete less than 48 hours before the event.
The boxer stands at 6ft 5in and weighed in at 284.4lbs (20st) when he picked up his most famous victory over Jared Anderson in August.
According to The Mail, Bakole might now weigh at over 300lbs (21st) on Saturday night.
Parker’s new opponent boasts a stunning record of 21-1, with his only loss taking place seven years ago against Michael Hunter, and another notable win over Carlos Takam.
The Aukland fighter, on the other hand, will also be entering the ring with a dominant record of 35-3, with major victories over Deontay Wilder, Derek Chisora and most recently Zhilei Zhang.
