Promoter Eddie Hearn’s denial of a clash between Anthony Joshua and Martin Bakole being “done” for AJ’s next fight has fans doubting it will happen. Hearn’s eyes looked terrified, making it clear that he views Bakole as too dangerous for Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) to fight.
The cunning, calculated, crafty Machiavellian way that Hearn has maneuvered Joshua’s career suggests that he views Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs) as someone he never wants his creation to go near.
Joshua is likely to face an easy foe, someone like 39-year-old Deontay Wilder, who looks completely shot at this late stage of his career. Bakole would likely destroy Joshua with a faster knockout than Daniel Dubois did to the former two-time heavyweight champion last September.
The Forgotten Man
“Martin Bakole has spent a lot of time trying to get a shot at a world title. By winning the fight that he has next for the IBF mandatory [against Efe Ajagba in May] for the Dubois-Parker winner. Why redirects?” said Simon Jordan to talkSport Boxing. “Eddie Hearn heard where this came from that Marin Bakole is going to fight Joshua because Turki Al-Sheikh named it.
“I don’t think he’s [AJ] going to fight Bakole, and I don’t think he should either. Bakole will beat him. Martin Bakole said, ‘I was told by Turki Al-Sheikh that this fight can be made, and I want it to be made. I want it to be like 1974. It can be like a Foreman-Ali 2.’ The bottom line is it hasn’t been signed, and I doubt that it’s going to be signed.
“He’s [Bakole] been so marginalized, so avoided. Every time he gets a whiff of a decent fight, someone pulls out, whether it be Zhang, or Kabayel, and everyone is avoiding him. So, he’s having his moment to be the town crier, ‘Pick me. Pick me.’”
If Joshua wanted the Bakole fight, he’d have already pulled the trigger on it, rather than leaving Hearn to cook up excuses for why it won’t happen.
Hearn is clearly biding his time, waiting to see if Tyson Fury will un-retire to fight Joshua in ‘The Battle of Britain’ match to bring in tons of dough. Fury looked so old and decrepit in his loss to Oleksandr Usyk last December. Whatever interest there once was in the Joshua vs. Fury fight is now gone, given how both guys looked in their recent losses.
Last Updated on 02/06/2025
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