Heavyweight contender Martin Bakole 21-1 (16) landed in America with a splash when he knocked out previously undefeated Jared ‘Big Baby’ Anderson 17-1 (15) in the fifth-round of their 10-round contest at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California on Saturday night.
The 32-year-old Bakole, who hails from the Democratic Republic of the Congo but boxes out of Scotland, came into the fight as a longshot underdog, but you wouldn’t have known it.
At the tail-end of a cagey opening round, Bakole found Anderson’s chin with a cracking right uppercut. The 24-year-old American went down heavily but managed to beat the count.
“We planned on it,” said Bakole of the punch that felled his opponent for the first time in the ring after the fight. “I am a little taller than him and I knew it would work.”
There was little adjustment made from Anderson’s end in the second round as he continued to stand in the pocket relying on his lateral movement to avoid Bakole’s bombs while pecking and poking with his own punches to his opponent’s body and head.
Sometimes he was more successful than others.
In the third and fourth rounds, Bakole’s confidence only continued to grow. He was able to time Anderson with hooks, right hands and more uppercuts.
On paper, the fight was a step up in class for Anderson and it proved to be exactly that. The Toledo, Ohio native who boxes out of Houston, Texas, never looked comfortable in the ring against the physically bigger and strong Bakole.
The end came in the fifth when another left uppercut sent Anderson to the deck. He beat the count before going down again, this time courtesy of some hard right hands. Anderson made it to his feet again and despite being obviously dazed, referee Jerry Cantu allowed the bout to continue.
It would not last much longer. Bakole swarmed Anderson and force the stoppage at the 2:07 mark of the fifth.
“I’m the most avoided man in the world,” said Bakole after his US debut. “I’m the most avoided man in the world. I planned it, I said it and I did it.
“This is what I am doing for my baby, this is what I am doing for my country, Congo, and Scotland. I told you from the beginning I am a machine. No one wants to fight me.”
Anderson, who was having his first fight under new coach SugarHill Steward, shouldered the blame for his first professional loss.
“I made some of the same mistakes I’ve been making,” Anderson said. “I did not come here to lose. I lost. I have to stop pulling back. I made the same mistakes.
“The worst thing I did was not listen to my corner. He was strong as shit. I can’t be mad. I’m going home to my daughter.”
