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Martin Bakole Ilunga (born 1 June 1993) is a Congolese professional boxer. He is the younger brother of former cruiserweight boxing world champion, Ilunga Makabu.

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.

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. 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.

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.

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.

Following a first-round TKO win over Ytalo Perea (11–4–2) in August, 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. 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.

In January 2024, In the latest ranking published by the WBA, the World Boxing Association, Martin Bakole appears at the rank of world number one heavyweight..

Bakole was scheduled to face Jared Anderson at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on August 3, 2024. Bakole won the fight by TKO in the fifth round. Bakole won the WBO International and the vacant WBO-NABO heavyweight titles in his victory.

Professional boxing record

References

1. "New Faces: Martin Bakole". The Ring. 2018-10-11. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
2. "Boxing record for Martin Bakole". BoxRec.
3. "Coming to Airdrie: Martin Bakole interview". Boxing Monthly. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
4. Netherton, Alexander (10 May 2022). "Tony Yoka vs Martin Bakole: Date, fight time, TV channel and live stream | DAZN News Global". DAZN. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
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.
17. Iskenderov, Parviz (6 June 2024). "Jared Anderson vs Martin Bakole joins Crawford-Madrimov card, Eminem to perform". FIGHTMAG.
18. Iskenderov, Parviz (4 August 2024). "Martin Bakole drops Jared Anderson three times, stops in fifth round". FIGHTMAG.
19. "Jared Anderson vs. Martin Bakole, Crawford vs. Madrimov | Boxing Bout". Tapology. Retrieved 2024-08-20.

• Living people
• 1993 births
• Democratic Republic of the Congo male boxers
• Heavyweight boxers
• People from Kananga
• 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo people