Martin Bakole is adamant that he has unlocked the key to hurting Oleksandr Usyk and thanks to their sparring knows how to stop Anthony Joshua; on Saturday Bakole must beat Ukraine's 'Hulk' Ihor Shevadzutskyi live on Sky Sports: "My career is on the line in this fight"
Friday 21 April 2023 10:06, UK
Martin Bakole could not be more clear. He is ready. Ready for Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Oleksandr Usyk or any of the top level heavyweights.
Bakole's confidence is based on his past spars with Fury, Usyk, Joshua and more. Thanks to that he's convinced he now knows how to beat them.
"I was learning from them, now I'm ready for them," he told Sky Sports.
"I'm very ready now for my team to make a big fight for me because I can't wait anymore."
He has spent plenty of time in camp with Anthony Joshua. Bakole maintains: "I learned how to stop him.
"Inside he doesn't want to be put under pressure. Joshua, I'm going to put him under pressure and he'll give up," he continued.
"He doesn't know how to fight on the inside. So give him pressure on the inside till he gives up."
Bakole believes he has identified weaknesses in other top fighters. Usyk's team deny that Bakole halted the unified champion in one of their sparring sessions, but the Congolese heavyweight is adamant he found a way to hurt Usyk in sparring "with a big body punch".
He was a key sparring partner for Usyk ahead of his two fights with Anthony Joshua. But fed up with only getting a couple of rounds in as the champion rotated sparring partners, he had wanted to leave an impression.
"Sometimes you only work two rounds in a day and it's not enough," he told Sky Sports. "I say okay this time I'll show you.
"He took one or two minutes to recover."
Bakole added with a smile: "I don't think they'll call me anymore."
Usyk is in negotiations to fight Daniel Dubois but if that fight were to fall through, Bakole would happily step in to fight either man.
"Daniel Dubois has not got heart," he said. "I'm No 2 in the WBA. He's got the WBA regular [title], Oleksandr Usyk is the 'Super' champ. So that is a fight I want after this fight, if he's ready.
"If not he will give up the belt, so I can fight someone else. Why not Joshua for WBA regular?"
Those dreams could only be realised if Bakole comes through his next fight. He will fight the 'Hulk', Ukraine's Ihor Shevadzutskyi on Saturday, live on Sky Sports.
"My career is on the line in this fight," he said. "The guy is 10-0, he's dangerous. He's got a nice left hook. He's got good combinations.
"He's believing in himself, focused. I can't play with a guy who's coming like that. He wants to take over my place, he wants to take everything I have right now. Because I'm No 2 with the WBA, I've a top 10 ranking, so I can't play."
The crowd at the G2A Arena in Rzeszow, a Polish city close to the Ukraine border, will likely be fully behind the Hulk, but Bakole is unworried.
"I love that," he said. "That happened against Mariusz Wach, everyone came for Wach and that happened to me in Paris, everyone came to support Tony Yoka. So I love that. That gives me motivation.
"That gives me courage and tells me to stop him. Because I know if I stop him I'm stopping all people that came to support him."
Watch Martin Bakole on the Lukasz Rozanski vs Alen Babic bill, live on Sky Sports from 7pm on Saturday night.
