Martin Bakole has a message for fans on his way to Riyadh: "I will shock the world tomorrow"

Martin Bakole is on his way to Saudi

Martin Bakole (21-1, 16KO) posted a video on his socials to show he is at the airport waiting to board his flight for Saudi Arabia, where he will take on Joseph Parker (35-3, 23KO) on 48 hours notice, after Daniel Dubois was taken ill and forced to pull out of his IBF World heavyweight title defence.

Bakole will lock horns with New Zealander Parker on Saturday, February 22, on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2, at the Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, live on DAZN.

The 33-year-old from the Democratic Republic of Congo addressed his fans, "This is it, this is it. It's unbelievable. It looks like I'm dreaming. But I'm not dreaming.

"So, I know, tomorrow... I think I will 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.

"This short video is to let you know that I'm my way for Saudi Arabia. As you can see, I'm here with my team, we're headed to go, waiting on the flight."

Despite being born in Kananga, Bakole trains in Scotland with trainer Billy Nelson. Together they have won WBC International and IBO Continental heavyweight titles, and reached WBC #4, IBF #3, WBA #2, WBO #2, IBO #4.

Did You Know? Martin Bakole Ilunga is the younger brother of the reigning WBC cruiserweight champion, Junior Makabu Ilunga

Last Five Foes

Joseph Parker:
W-MD 12 Zhilei Zhang
W-UD 12 Deontay Wilder
W-KO 3 Simon Kean
W-TKO 1 Faiga Opelu
W-UD 10 Jack Massey

Martin Bakole:
W-KO 5 Jared Anderson
W-TKO 4 Carlos Takam
W-TKO 3 Ihor Shevadzutskyi
W-MD 10 Tony Yoka
W-TKO 1 Haruna Osumanu