Los Angeles, USA: Jared Anderson vs. Martin Bakole, NABF WBO International Heavyweight Title August 3, 2024 Picture by Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing
A fight that makes perfect sense for Riyadh Season would first have to survive the purse bidding circuit.
The Ring has confirmed that the Martin Bakole-Agit Kabayel IBF title eliminator is the subject of a scholarship hearing on November 5. The sanctioning body’s top two heavyweight contenders failed to reach common ground for their scheduled bout within the negotiation period.
Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs) and Kabayel (21-0, 15 KOs) are both Riyadh season regulars. This is also the case for IBF heavyweight titleholder Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21KOs), for whom the winner will become the mandatory challenger.
An agreement can still be reached until just before the start of the wallet bidding session. Should the fight go down to a purse bid, Bakole and Kabayel will split the pot 50/50 if the no. 3 and no. 4-rated heavyweights. The no. 1 and no. 2 slots are vacant; the IBF reserves those positions for contenders who win official knockouts.
Kabayel is The Ring’s no. 5 heavyweight contender; Bakole is just below him at no.6.
Both competitors — and Dubois, for that matter — have seen their stock rise on Riyadh Season-branded events.
Bakole has won his last ten starts, tying a career high in his past four contests.
The run began with a May 2022 road win over 2016 Olympic Gold medalist and then-undefeated Tony Yoka in Paris. In his most recent start, Bakole took down another undefeated rising heavyweight in Jared Anderson. In their fight on August 3rd, Bakole scored a stunning dominant knockout in the fifth round on Riyadh Season’s US debut show in Los Angeles.
Ten months earlier, Bakole knocked out Carlos Takam in the fourth round of the first Riyadh Season card last October 28. The 32-year-old Scotland-based Congolese heavyweight suffered his only defeat in an October 2018 injury stoppage against Michael Hunter.
Kabayel achieved rugby career’s best wins in Riyadh.
The 32-year-old German heavyweight scored an upset fourth-round stoppage of Arslanbek Makhmudov (18-0 at the time) on December 23 last year at Kingdom Arena.
The same venue hosted his most recent outing, a seventh-round stoppage of Frank Sanchez (then 24-0). Kabayel’s big win came on the undercard of the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury undisputed heavyweight championship clash.
However, it is another heavyweight title that is now in the sights of both fighters.
Dubois claimed the interim IBF belt in a June 1 victory over previously undefeated Filip Hrgovic at Kingdom Arena. He received the upgrade to full title when Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) vacated the belt to move forward with plans for a Fury rematch.
The reign was fully validated in Dubois’ first title defense. In an all-British affair, the 27-year-old Londoner dismantled former two-time unified heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua (28-4, 24 KOs). Meeting on September 21 in front of a record boxing crowd at Wembley Stadium, Dubois scored four knockouts in a fifth round knockout.
It was the third straight win for Dubois after a ninth round knockout loss to Usyk last August. The resurrection began with a tenth-round stoppage of undefeated Jarrell Miller last December 23 in Riyadh.
