Paulie Malignaggi thinks heavyweight Martin Bakole should have been brought back for Turki Al-Shiekh in Riyadh after upsetting previously undefeated Jared Anderson on the August 3 card in Los Angeles, California.
Malignaggi says the fight was clearly about Anderson (17-1, 15 KOs) and not Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs), as he was not called back despite an impressive fifth-round knockout.
Overlooked and underrated
Anderson, 25, was a highly touted fighter being groomed by his promoters at Top Rank to be the next great American heavyweight, replacing the aging Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Bakole ruined things by destroying Jared in a three-knockout performance, and his career is now on shaky ground.
Riyadh cards need higher standards for those who fight on them because too many fighters don’t belong. For example, the December 21 card only had one good fighter on the undercard, Serhii Bohachuk, and the rest were terrible.
Bakole deserved more to be in the main event challenging unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk than the old, bearded, washed up looking Tyson Fury.
There is no going back to Riyadh
“You’re talking about the fight between Jared Anderson and Bakole. That fight was about Jared Anderson. In the end it was a free gift for Martin Bakole,” said Paulie Malignaggi Probox TVtalking about Jared Anderson’s loss to Martin Bakole on the Aug. 3 Turki Al-Shiekh card in Los Angeles.
“We can say, looking back, that it wasn’t about Bakole because nobody returned Bakole. I feel like he was treated unfairly. It should have been returned. It was kind of a free gift for Jared Anderson that turned into a free gift for Bakole, and now he’s getting punished for it. I believe that Bakole should be returned.
“If you’re going to do this, there has to be a standard set. There are many positive sides. I wouldn’t say that’s a criticism. I’d say that’s a constructive criticism in a way because there’s so much to praise about what’s going on there [Riyadh, Saudi Arabia]”, said Malignaggi.
It looks like Bakole was punished for beating A-fighter Jared Anderson. However, Matchroom and Queensberry do not promote Bakole, the two promotional companies that Turki uses as a source of fighters to fill his cards for the Riyadh season. If Bakole had been promoted by one of those companies, they might have brought him back for the December 21st card.
“At the same time, there are things that can be done better, and you want to see this sport and the fighters grow. Some of it is knowing when to overcompensate and when not to overcompensate,” Malignaggi said.
Many of the fighters on Turki’s cards are those recommended by British promoters, and many of them are hype jobs, house scrubs or older guys on the other side. We see Tyson Fury and Anthony being paid ridiculous amounts of money despite being washed up.
It would be better for the sport if the former top guys were cut, and Turki would say no to promoters who try to pack cards with non-world class fighters who don’t belong on the main cards.
The recent December 21st card was loaded with limited fighters that fans outside of the UK have never heard of before and hopefully will never hear of again.
