Bakole had garnered the label of "the boogeyman of the heavyweight division," with his power, size and ability to walk down opponents leading to trouble finding opponents. To Parker's credit, he jumped at the chance to face Bakole after Dubois pulled out of the bout, taking the IBF heavyweight title with him.

In a curious sight, Bakole was spotted wearing Dubois' black Fly-branded gloves with "DDD" written across them in his fight with Joseph Parker for the WBO interim heavyweight title at the Anb Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.