Martin Bakole

Martin Bakole Ilunga (born 1 June 1993) is a Congolese professional boxer. He is the younger brother of boxer Ilunga Makabu.[5]

Martin Bakole
Statistics
Real nameMartin Bakole Ilunga
Weight(s)Heavyweight
Height6 ft 6 in (198 cm) [1]
NationalityCongolese
Born (1993-06-01) 1 June 1993[2]
Kananga, Democratic Republic of the Congo[3]
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record[4]
Total fights16
Wins15
Wins by KO12
Losses1

Professional career

Bakole made his professional debut on 25 March 2014, scoring a second-round technical knockout (TKO) victory over Cecil Smith at the Emperors Palace in Kempton Park, Gauteng, South Africa.[6]

After compiling a record of 9–0 (6 KO), he faced undefeated Ali Baghouz (10–0–1) on 11 November 2017 at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh, with the vacant IBO Continental heavyweight title on the line.[7] Bakole captured the vacant title via first-round knockout (KO). He successfully defended the title in his next fight with a first-round TKO against DL Jones (8–1–1) on 23 June 2018 at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow.[8]

He next fought former Olympian and cruiserweight world title challenger Michael Hunter (14–1) for the vacant IBO Inter-Continental heavyweight title on 13 October 2018 at the York Hall, London. Bakole lost the fight via tenth-round TKO. The first few rounds were evenly contested with Bakole walking his American opponent down while Hunter remained on the back foot, utilising movement and picking his moments to throw combinations. From round four and onwards, Hunter began to make an impression with his ring movement and speedy combinations. Towards the end of the seventh, Bakole landed a powerful right hand that stunned Hunter, causing the former cruiserweight to hold in the clinch. Hunter, now looking fatigued and suffering a cut to the right eye, had his mouth piece knocked out in the eighth by a clean right hand. After injuring his right shoulder in the eighth, Bakole was reluctant to throw the right hand in the ninth, instead choosing to work behind the jab. The end came in the tenth and final round; with Hunter landing powerful shots with more frequency, a left hook sent Bakole stumbling – not for the first time during the round – towards the corner. After a barrage of unanswered punches, referee Phil Edwards waved off the fight with 41 seconds of the round remaining, handing Bakole the first defeat of his professional career.[9][10]

Following his loss to Hunter, Bakole fought former heavyweight world title challenger Mariusz Wach (33–4) on 6 April 2019 at the Spodek Arena in Katowice, Poland, with the vacant Republic of Poland International heavyweight title up for grabs. Bakole won the fight via eighth-round TKO in a scheduled ten-round bout. The first-round saw Wach boxing in a defensive manner, staying at range behind the jab and looking to counter-punch. The next few rounds saw Bakole take the lead. Throwing heavy combination punches to the head of his Polish opponent. Towards the end of the fifth, Bakole landed several punches to his opponent's head, leaving Wach on unsteady legs as he walked back to his corner. Wach attempted to rally back in the sixth-round, having success as Bakole's pace slowed. Bakole came back in the seventh to repeat his performance of previous rounds, putting together combinations and landing punches to the head of Wach. The end came in the eighth when referee Robert Gortat waved off the fight after Wach was on the receiving end of a flurry of twelve unanswered punches.[11][12]

Following a first-round TKO win over Ytalo Perea (11–4–2) in August,[13] Bakole was scheduled to face Gabriel Enguema on 19 October 2019 at the Utilita Arena, Newcastle. Days before the fight, Enguema withdrew from the bout due to an injury. Former world title challenger Kevin Johnson (34–15–1) stepped in at short notice.[14] In what was a one-sided affair, Bakole won by fifth-round TKO in a scheduled eight-round bout after referee Ron Kearney waved off the fight following Johnson being on the receiving end of several unanswered punches, handing the durable veteran boxer the third stoppage defeat of his career.[15][16]

Professional boxing record
Professional record summary
16 fights 15 wins 1 loss
By knockout 12 1
By decision 3 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
17 N/A N/A Sergey Kuzmin N/A – (10) 22 Aug 2020 Matchroom Fight Camp, Brentwood, England
16 Win 15–1 Rodney Hernandez TKO 2 (10), 2:50 2 Nov 2019 Manchester Arena, Manchester, England
15 Win 14–1 Kevin Johnson TKO 5 (8), 0:58 19 Oct 2019 Utilita Arena, Newcastle, England
14 Win 13–1 Ytalo Perea TKO 1 (8), 1:20 2 Aug 2019 Exhibition Centre Liverpool, Liverpool, England
13 Win 12–1 Mariusz Wach TKO 8 (10), 2:26 6 Apr 2019 Spodek, Katowice, Poland Won vacant Republic of Poland International heavyweight title
12 Loss 11–1 Michael Hunter TKO 10 (10), 2:19 13 Oct 2018 York Hall, London, England For vacant IBO Inter-Continental heavyweight title
11 Win 11–0 DL Jones TKO 1 (10), 1:02 23 Jun 2018 The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland Retained IBO Continental heavyweight title
10 Win 10–0 Ali Baghouz KO 1 (10), 2:23 11 Nov 2017 Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland Won vacant IBO Continental heavyweight title
9 Win 9–0 Kamil Sokolowski PTS 6 7 Oct 2017 York Hall, London, England
8 Win 8–0 Dominic Akinlade TKO 1 (6), 1:56 29 Jul 2017 Bowlers Exhibition Centre, Manchester, England
7 Win 7–0 Tomas Mrazek TKO 3 (6), 1:32 1 Oct 2016 Bellahouston Leisure Centre, Glasgow, Scotland
6 Win 6–0 Lukasz Rusiewicz PTS 4 12 Aug 2016 Village Hotel, Ashton-under-Lyne, England
5 Win 5–0 Patrick Madzinga TKO 1 (6) 12 Dec 2015 Olive Convention Centre, Durban, South Africa
4 Win 4–0 Ferenc Zsalek MD 4 5 Dec 2014 Centre Sportif Obercorn, Differdange, Luxembourg
3 Win 3–0 Lukas Filka KO 1 (4), 2:55 8 Nov 2014 Hall Omnisport de La Préalle, Herstal, Belgium
2 Win 2–0 Chris Mbombo TKO 2 (4) 23 Apr 2014 Emperors Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa
1 Win 1–0 Cecil Smith TKO 2 (4) 25 Mar 2014 Emperors Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa
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References
  1. "New Faces: Martin Bakole". The Ring. 2018-10-11. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
  2. https://box.live/boxers/martin-bakole-ilunga/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. "Coming to Airdrie: Martin Bakole interview". Boxing Monthly. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
  4. "Boxing record for Martin Bakole". BoxRec.
  5. Dooley, Terence (31 July 2017). "Martin Ilunga Targets Tony Bellew: I Want To Avenge My Brother!". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  6. "BoxRec: Martin Bakole vs. Cecil Smith". boxrec.com. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  7. "BoxRec: Martin Bakole vs. Ali Baghouz". boxrec.com. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  8. "BoxRec: Martin Bakole vs. DL Jones". boxrec.com. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  9. Williamson, Chris (13 October 2018). "Michael Hunter With a Dramatic Knockout of Martin Bakole". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  10. Gray, Tom (13 October 2018). "Michael Hunter stops Martin Bakole in the closing seconds of heavyweight slugfest". The Ring. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  11. Furman, Luke (6 April 2019). "Martin Bakole Batters, Stops Mariusz Wach in The Eight". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  12. "Martin Bakole Ilunga stops Mariusz Wach - RESULTS ⋆ Boxing News 24". Boxing News 24. 6 April 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  13. "BoxRec: Martin Bakole vs. Ytalo Perea". boxrec.com. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  14. "Ritson vs Davies Jr: Kevin Johnson comes in to face Martin Bakole". Sky Sports. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  15. Foster, Elliot (19 October 2019). "Ritson-Davies LIVE Results - Martin Bakole Stops Kevin Johnson". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  16. Damerell, Richard (19 October 2019). "Davies Jr vs Ritson: Martin Bakole stops Kevin Johnson in the fifth round in Newcastle". Sky Sports. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
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