Poor guy got screwed pretty badly here.
He was supposed to get his shot at the IBF heavyweight title and if he won it would lead to a surefire chance to challenge Usyk for undisputed status.
Instead he has to fight a dangerous contender on short notice (Bakole is ranked #6 at the TBRB), while Dubois will almost assuredly skip straight to an Usyk fight given Usyk called him out today. So Parker has no obvious dance partner for his next fight if he beats Bakole.
That's why I think they should let him fight Pulev. Parker would win that fight and have both the fake WBA Regular and WBO interim straps, which would put him right back in line for the Usyk fight and have the added bonus of removing the possibility of Pulev inheriting the full WBA championship if Usyk were to retire or get stripped.
He was supposed to get his shot at the IBF heavyweight title and if he won it would lead to a surefire chance to challenge Usyk for undisputed status.
Instead he has to fight a dangerous contender on short notice (Bakole is ranked #6 at the TBRB), while Dubois will almost assuredly skip straight to an Usyk fight given Usyk called him out today. So Parker has no obvious dance partner for his next fight if he beats Bakole.
That's why I think they should let him fight Pulev. Parker would win that fight and have both the fake WBA Regular and WBO interim straps, which would put him right back in line for the Usyk fight and have the added bonus of removing the possibility of Pulev inheriting the full WBA championship if Usyk were to retire or get stripped.