Martin Bakole and Zhilei Zhang could fight next in an IBF-ordered final eliminator. The IBF has ordered #4 Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs) and #5 Zhang (27-2-1, 22 KOs) to fight next. Zhang-Bakole will be a monster movie type fight, a matchup between two slow but powerful heavyweights with punching power reminiscent of George Foreman.
If this fight comes down to it, Bakole may have met his match in two-time Chinese Olympian Zhang, who is a big counter puncher with KO power in both hands.
Bakole faces his first big punch
Zhang can punch, so he’ll be tall enough to connect with his shots, and Bakole might not be able to handle that 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 knocked out by Michael Hunter in the tenth round in 2018. Bakole has won 10 fights since that loss, but he’s the best guy he’s fought in those six years with Jared Anderson.
He is not someone without experience who, like Bakole’s last opponent, Jared Anderson, will fold on August 3. Jared looked like a green rookie and wasn’t fighting a heavy puncher like Bakole at that early stage of his career.
Former WBO interim 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 had against Wilder, Bakole won’t last long.
Zhang’s gas tank remains a question mark
A heavy-looking Zhang lost to Joseph Parker by a 12-round majority decision earlier this year on March 8. Despite knocking Parker down twice in the contest, it was not one of Zhang’s better performances. He passed out after three rounds, and it was all he could do to throw a handful of punches for the rest of the fight.
That fight showed Zhang’s limitations. He’s a big puncher, but he gasses quickly if he can’t land an early knockout, and he makes regular heavyweights look great. Parker and Zhang’s fights against Jerry Forrest and Filip Hrgovic are a case in point.
Agit Kabayel was originally supposed to fight Bakole but chose a different approach. On February 22, Kabayel could be the next opponent for IBF champion Daniel Dubois.
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