Martin Bakole has paid tribute to Jared Anderson’s willingness to “risk” fighting him on Saturday.
The heavyweights fight at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, on the undercard of Israil Madrimov-Terence Crawford, in a contest that represents the promising Anderson’s biggest test.
At 24 and across the course of 17 fights, Anderson has already come to be regarded as the future of the heavyweight division. Plans existed to match him with Deontay Wilder until Wilder’s defeat by Zhilei Zhang, but unlike Wilder – who remains one of their division’s biggest names – Bakole lacks the profile required in the US to enhance Anderson’s.
Should Anderson win he will likely have survived the nature of fight that will significantly improve him as a fighter, but he will not widely receive credit for doing so because outside of the UK the Congolese Bakole’s reputation is minimal.
Bakole, 32, has come to be seen as perhaps the most dangerous heavyweight outside of the very elite, and for Anderson he therefore represents minimal reward and maximum risk – something even Bakole acknowledges.
“I can’t believe it because when I take a look at some records, I saw that he never fight someone like my level,” he told BoxingScene. “Never fight someone like me. So, he’s a man. He takes chances. Even me, I will take risks like him. I always call out all these top guys. I want to prove everyone wrong. He say ‘Yes’ to fight me; that’s a big test for him.
“Very good luck to him. That’s all I can say – good luck. He’s a boxer; he’s got skills. That’s all I know. I don’t watch his fights. I only saw the small video that he is knocking people out, but if I check the ranking, I saw the people he is knocking out – he is still building up his career. But I’m a big fish, I’m a big man – big tough guy – so I don’t think that will happen to me.
“[Wilder] lost not by points but knockout. So he needs time to recover. I think that’s the reason why there’s not someone who can replace Wilder if there’s no Martin Bakole, because I’m the number one [in the] WBA rankings. [Anthony] Joshua come after me; before Joshua was Wilder. Maybe they try to take my ranking, but that’s it. All I know is that I get contacted by my team. They say I’m going to fight. So I say ‘Yes’.”
Bakole has lost only once, in 2018 when he fought Michael Hunter with an injured right shoulder. He has since recorded admirable victories, including when travelling to Poland to stop Mariusz Wach, and to Paris to earn a decision over Tony Yoka.
“I never even think about Anderson, but I know he’s good; young; still coming,” he continued. “My vision is to be fighting big fights; fight Joshua; fight Tyson Fury. But he’s still young; he’s coming. I’m looking to fight all these top guys, so he’s the one who’s got the same ambition.
“All my life [I’ve waited for an opportunity like this]. This is just the beginning, so I still have a big fight to come. I wanted to see myself inside with Joe Joyce; inside with Joshua; inside with [Oleksandr] Usyk, and Tyson Fury, so that’s my dream.
“After this fight I think I will get a big opportunity as well. Some people say they want to see Martin Bakole win but all I do is win. We all lose – we all make mistakes – so Michael Hunter was a mistake for me. I went to the gym and fixed the mistake – look at who I am today. I never lost again, so everyone learns from mistakes.
“Everything will depend on the fight, on the winning and then we will see who people want me to fight. Maybe I’ll ask a few people after winning my fight – I’ll ask people to tell me who they want me to fight.”
A potential future opponent, in the event of victory, is the winner of the fight between Andy Ruiz Jr and Jarrell Miller, and Bakole said: “I think it’s a good fight. If ‘Baby’ Miller trains well and gets fit, I think it’s a 50-50. If he’s not trained well, I think Ruiz stop him maybe, or maybe on points.
“I can see the condition [Miller] was in the Daniel Dubois fight. If he kept that weight and didn’t train well, anything can happen. I’m seeing it this fight, 60 [in favor of Ruiz], 40 per cent [for Miller].”
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