Martin Bakole sprung an upset that was deemed a major one across the pond this weekend, even if plenty within the United Kingdom saw it coming. With momentum behind him and attention finally upon him, the Congolese heavyweight seems destined for another huge fight before the end of the year, but his trainer has admitted that there is one thing that he should change ahead of his next outing, which will likely be on the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury II card this December.
Jared Anderson was deemed as the next top heavyweight to come out of the United States and was carrying the expectation and hopes of the nation’s chances in the division on his back. However, ‘The Real Big Baby’ appeared to take one step too soon in his young career, as he was obliterated by Bakole in a stunningly one-sided beatdown that has skyrocketed Bakole into the limelight.
Bakole silenced his doubters and backed up disregarded sparring stories of old to drop Anderson in the opening round, before decking the 25-year-old twice in the fifth and getting the stoppage win in a near-faultless display. Although, speaking to Boxing Social, his trainer Billy Nelson revealed that his man could do with being a little lighter on the scales in future contests.
“Another stone off, [would be the optimal weight for him]. One more stone off.”
The exceptional victory for Bakole stood out alongside Jose Valenzuela’s win over Isaac Cruz as the performances of the night and did enough to convince Turki Al-Alshikh that Bakole can prove to be a serious threat to the title. With Usyk-Fury II poised for December, Nelson went on to reveal plans to face Zhilei Zhang on that undercard and then challenge for a world title soon after, whether that be against the winner of Usyk and Fury or for a vacant belt.
“I think that there is a very good chance that it could be Zhang. That is the fight that His Excellency wants and if that is what His Excellency wants – that is what he will get.
“I think that I would be very confident after this next fight [potentially with Zhang], that the next fight would be [for] a world title. After this fight, the WBO and certainly the WBA is due their mandatories and we would be number one in the WBA and God willing, if we win in December, we would be pushing real hard to get that world title fight because we will then deserve it.”
World titles are expected to be fragmented soon after Usyk-Fury II and at present it is Bakole who is best poised for a shot at the WBA belt, whilst Joseph Parker holds the position as mandatory challenger with the WBO. Meanwhile, the WBC are yet to install a mandatory challenger and Daniel Dubois’ IBF belt is on the line when he takes on Anthony Joshua in September.
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