Joseph Parker will reportedly pocket triple the amount of money that Martin Bakole will make this weekend.
That is according to the Sun, who claim a £2.05million ($2.6m) purse has been put up for the heavyweight clash, which will act as chief support for Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol‘s rematch on Saturday night.
Parker is set to receive a lion’s share of the pot – £1.58m ($2m) – while the British tabloid reports that Bakole will bank £475,000 ($600,000).
The discrepancy in wages comes as a surprise given that Bakole took the fight on only two days’ notice.
Parker was initially set to face Daniel Dubois for the Brit’s IBF heavyweight title.
However, Dubois was withdrawn from the card on the doctors’ advice on Thursday after falling ill with a viral infection.
Lawrence Okolie, David Adeleye and Mourad Aliev were all lined up as potential replacement opponents but Bakole got the call after his trainer Billy Nelson campaigned tirelessly for his man to get the opportunity.
The African puncher was in Congo when he threw his hat in the ring to face Parker and jumped on a 3,800-mile flight the same day to Saudi Arabia after being given the green light by boxing mogul Turki Alalshikh.
Bakole will first fly from Congo to Ethiopia, then to Dubai, before finally landing in the Middle East ahead of the biggest fight of his career.
The 6ft 6in behemoth is expected to touch down at 2am local time in the early hours of Saturday morning meaning he missed the ceremonial weigh-in on Friday night.
Parker tipped the scales at a career-heaviest 267lbs (19st), 12 lbs heavier than his previous high against Joe Joyce in 2022.
Bakole will weigh in behind closed doors tomorrow in front of a British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) commissioner.
He is expected to be north of 300lbs.
Despite having all the chips stacked against him, Nelson believes his man will rock up and pull off a stunning upset.
During an exclusive interview with talkSPORT, Bakole’s trainer said: “Listen, you’ve got to grasp these opportunities, nobody gives you nothing in life. You’ve got to earn it.
“So it’s his time to go out and work hard and beat Joseph Parker.
“I’m hoping he’ll have as much rest as he can from the moment he lands until the time we go to the fight…
“In my opinion, it’s no disrespect to Joseph because he’s a good friend. I believe Martin would beat Parker nine and a half times out of ten.
“I think Martin will knock out Parker…there’s already been talks about a rematch which is astounding.
“I’m astounded at it but you know it’s not the worst thing in the world because it’s another top fight for Martin Bakole isn’t it?
“Nothing’s been agreed on that yet though.”
