Joseph Parker stops late replacement Martin Bakole in second round of heavyweight fight

Joseph Parker made easy work of replacement opponent Martin Bakole with a second round stoppage to retain his interim WBO heavyweight title. 

Bakole arrived in Riyadh during the early hours of Saturday morning following the news that IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois was unable to compete due to illness. 

While Parker was the favourite to get his hand raised, Bakole was someone who could not be taken lightly with him labelled the 'boogeyman' of the heavyweight division. 

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Parker began the contest with a spring in his step against a Bakole who was offering little movement. With the New Zealander probing with the jab, he had to be wary of Bakole’s power which appeared during the closing seconds of round one.

With Bakole not offering much, it was a case of when the fight would end and that came in round two. A Parker right hand to the top of Bakole's head saw him stumble before falling on to the canvas. 

Bakole did manage to get back this feet but referee Steve Grey had seen enough and waved off the contest. 

Following the fight, the message was simple from Parker, a world title shot next, and with wins over Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and now Bakole, the New Zealander has every right to challenge for boxing's richest prize once more. 

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