Martin Bakole's trainer Billy Nelson admits he 'couldn't believe the scales' when his fighter weighed in at just under 300lbs for his clash with Efe Ajagba last week in Saudi Arabia.

Bakole (21-2-1, 16 KOs) reportedly weighed in at 315lbs before his 2nd-round stoppage loss to Joseph Parker in February, but having taken the fight on 24 hours notice, the Congolese heavyweight was handed a proverbial pass.

Last August, Bakole put in the performance of his career on the undercard of Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov when he knocked out Jared Anderson in five rounds, weighing in at 284lbs the day before.

The target weight for Bakole's fight with Ajagba (20-1-1, 14 KOs), which ended in a majority draw on the Canelo-Scull undercard, was similar to that, but the 21-year-old hit the scales at 299lbs, something which came as a shock to Scotsman Nelson.

"I'm not giving him any excuses whatsoever, I'm in the gym with Martin, I'm not with him 24/7, I can't determine what goes in and out of his mouth," Nelson told Louis Hart for The Ring.

"When I left two weeks ago to go to Wales, he was 20st 6lbs, and he was going to Saudi the following day, so I assumed that, easily, he'd have hit 20 stone, which meant he'd have lost 35 pounds [since the Parker fight], which was our target.

"I couldn't believe the scales...I never weighed him because he was looking good in the gym, he came in at 299lbs so I'm disappointed in that respect."

Bakole made a slow start in his bout with Ajagba, and had arguably only won a round or two by the time the 7th stanza had finished. While he finished strong, it wasn't enough to get the nod on the cards, and plenty of observers thought Ajagba did enough to walk away from Riyadh with his hand raised.

The scores read 96-94 Ajagba and 95-95 twice.

Nelson is adamant that an in-shape Bakole would have stopped Nigerian Ajagba. He also stated that Bakole's ongoing weight issues need to be addressed, or he won't have a future in the sport as a champion.

"Whether Martin likes it or not, we're getting a nutritionist," Nelson added.

"The problem with [that], what people don't understand is Martin is a vegetarian and he's a bit stubborn in the respect he doesn't eat much British food, he eats African or Congolese food and he buys it in certain shops in Glasgow, so I don't know...but a nutritionist would help, undoubtedly.

"He's got to be a lot stricter, much more strict and disciplined with himself, and I'm also bringing in an American strength and conditioning coach. I think that will be very beneficial for Martin.

"He's got to understand it, or he'll not have a future, or the future I know he's capable of. I was disappointed, I've seen him do things in the gym I've not seen other fighters do. To see the condition [he was in], the belly...for me that's a substandard Martin Bakole performance, he's so much better than that.

"A slimmer version of Martin Bakole would've stopped Ajagba, he'd have closed the distance down, got more shots off. People say he wasn't fit but he won rounds 8, 9 and 10 clearly, so the fact he's carrying that extra timber is not good at all."