"This Is Illegal": Derek Chisora Slams Organizers of Parker vs. Bakole Fight

British heavyweight Derek Chisora has strongly criticized the WBO interim title fight between New Zealand's Joseph Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Martin Bakole (21-2, 16 KOs).

Parker had originally been preparing to face IBF champion Daniel Dubois, but the British fighter was forced to withdraw due to illness. Bakole was then offered the fight on short notice and accepted without hesitation, flying out of Congo and arriving at 2 a.m. on fight day.

Initially, Chisora praised the bout and even predicted an early stoppage victory for Bakole. However, after the fight, he drastically changed his stance, calling the circumstances "illegal."

“I don’t understand why everyone is hyping up Bakole. The guy was on a plane for nearly 24 hours. Joseph has been here for about three months, training, having the best camp, and you expect Bakole to just get on a plane, land, make weight, pass a medical, not even get any sleep, show up at the arena, warm up, and fight a guy who’s been in camp for about six months?

This is illegal. Do you understand how illegal this is? Yes, he’s making a lot of money, but it’s not fair. And yet, we talk about wanting to protect fighters in boxing. Let’s be honest. Yesterday, we were all hyping this up, but it’s not fair,” Chisora said.

For reference, on February 22, Joseph Parker knocked out Martin Bakole in the second round. Bakole had accepted the fight just two days prior, on February 20.