Martin Bakole


Martin Bakole Ilunga is a Congolese professional boxer. He is the younger brother of boxer Ilunga Makabu.

Professional career

Bakole made his professional debut on 25 March 2014, scoring a second-round technical knockout victory over Cecil Smith at the Emperors Palace in Kempton Park, Gauteng, South Africa.
After compiling a record of 9–0, he faced undefeated Ali Baghouz 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. He successfully defended the title in his next fight with a first-round TKO against DL Jones on 23 June 2018 at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow.
He next fought former Olympian and cruiserweight world title challenger Michael Hunter 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 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 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 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.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
17 Sergey Kuzmin– 22 Aug 2020Brentwood, England.png" />
16Win15–1 Rodney HernandezTKO2, 2:502 Nov 2019Manchester Arena, Manchester, England.png" />
15Win14–1 Kevin JohnsonTKO5, 0:5819 Oct 2019
14Win13–1 Ytalo PereaTKO1, 1:202 Aug 2019Exhibition Centre Liverpool, Liverpool, England.png" />
13Win12–1 Mariusz WachTKO8, 2:266 Apr 2019Spodek, Katowice, Poland.png" />Won vacant Republic of Poland International heavyweight title
12Loss11–1 Michael HunterTKO10, 2:1913 Oct 2018For vacant IBO Inter-Continental heavyweight title
11Win11–0 DL JonesTKO1, 1:0223 Jun 2018SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland.png" />Retained IBO Continental heavyweight title
10Win10–0 Ali BaghouzKO1, 2:2311 Nov 2017Won vacant IBO Continental heavyweight title
9Win9–0 Kamil SokolowskiPTS67 Oct 2017
8Win8–0 Dominic AkinladeTKO1, 1:5629 Jul 2017
7Win7–0 Tomas MrazekTKO3, 1:321 Oct 2016Leisure Centre, Glasgow, Scotland.png" />
6Win6–0 Lukasz Rusiewicz412 Aug 2016Ashton-under-Lyne, England.png" />
5Win5–0 Patrick MadzingaTKO1 12 Dec 2015Durban, South Africa.png" />
4Win4–0 Ferenc Zsalek45 Dec 2014Differdange, Luxembourg.png" />
3Win3–0 Lukas Filka1, 2:558 Nov 2014Herstal, Belgium.png" />
2Win2–0 Chris MbomboTKO2 23 Apr 2014
1Win1–0 Cecil Smith2 25 Mar 2014