Martin Bakole and Zhilei Zhang could fight next in a final eliminator ordered by the IBF. The IBF has ordered #4 Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs) and #5 Zhang (27-2-1, 22 KOs) for the next fight. Zhang-Bakole will be a monster movie kind of fight, a match between two slow but powerful heavyweights with punching power reminiscent of George Foreman.
If this fight comes out, Bakole may have met his match in the two-time Chinese Olympian Zhang, who is a great counter-puncher with KO power in each hand.
Bakole makes his first big puncher
Zhang can take a punch, so it will be long enough to connect with his shots, and Bakole may not be able to handle this kind of “Big Bang” power.
While Bakole is a good fighter, he hasn’t fought anyone who can punch during his 10-year career. He was defeated in the tenth round by Michael Hunter in 2018. Bakole has won 10 fights since that loss, but he is the best guy he has fought during those six years with Jared Anderson.
He is not someone without experience who will fold like Bakole’s last opponent, Jared Anderson, on August 3rd. Jared looked like a green novice and had no business fighting a heavy puncher like Bakole at that early stage of his career.
Former interim WBO champion Zhang, 41, destroyed Deontay Wilder earlier this year by a fifth-round knockout on June 1 in Riyadh. Zhang made it look easy to stop former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder. If Zhang has the same form he did against Wilder, Bakole won’t last long.
Zhang’s gas tank remains a question
A heavy-looking Zhang lost to Joseph Parker by a 12-round majority decision earlier this year on March 8. Despite killing Parker twice in the contest, this was not one of Zhang’s best performances. He gassed after three rounds, and it was all he could do to throw a bunch of punches for the rest of the fight.
This fight showed Zhang’s limitations. He’s a great puncher, but he gasses out quickly if he can’t get an early knockout, and he makes ordinary heavyweights look great. Parker and Zhang’s fights against Jerry Forrest and Filip Hrgovic exemplify this.
Agit Kabayel was originally supposed to fight Bakole, but opted for a different approach. On February 22, Kabayel could be the next opponent for IBF champion Daniel Dubois.
