Heavyweight Martin Bakole has shared links on his social media asking fans to help him raise £100,000 to support his ‘dream to become world champion.’
The hard-hitting Congolese heavyweight fights out of Scotland and was last in the ring with a four-round domination of veteran Carlos Takam.
That was on the same card as the extremely lucrative Tyson Fury-Francis Ngannou fight, Riyadh Season’s first entry into big-time boxing.
Bakole impressed on the night. It was his 9th win on the bounce since a sole career loss to Michael Hunter. As such, he has found himself rated number one with the WBA above Anthony Joshua, Joseph Parker, Daniel Dubois and Frank Sanchez.
With a world title in his grasp, the 30-year-old shared the crowdfunding campaign to his supporters on X.
Hi there, 🇨🇩👈https://t.co/tRVQvqfJud
— Martin Bakole (@MartinBakole01) January 1, 2024
It remains unexplained what the money is required for and how urgent it is. Many fans ridiculed the move, especially given his last fight in Saudi Arabia – well known for big purses.
Outside of his wins under trainer Billy Nelson, Bakole is known for claiming to have hurt or stopped many of the top heavyweights in sparring.
He says Joshua won’t fight him because of past work in the gym, that he has stopped Dubois twice in sessions, and Oleksandr Usyk – the WBA’s Super Champion – hit the deck from a body shot during one of their spars.
Sitting one below Usyk with the sanctioning body is Mahmoud Charr, the WBA’s Regular Champion due to a recent legal case. With Usyk tied up in his undisputed fight against Tyson Fury in February, Bakole-Charr seems a smart move.