Anthony Joshua and Martin Bakole posed for a face-off during the Saturday Ring Awards in London, England.
Staredown in London
It was interesting to see the intensity on the face of the two-time former heavyweight champion, Joshua, in the fight with the highly rated Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs). It was like AJ was Bakole tries to intimidate and sends a message about what would be in store for him if they ever met in the ring. These two are not expected to fight in 2025, and possibly never.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn said the plan is for AJ to fight Tyson Fury twice in 2025 and possibly rematch IBF champion Daniel Dubois. Hearn would resist letting Joshua fight Bakole with every fiber of his being because he would know what would happen to AJ if that match happened.
If a fight with Bakole were to happen, it would be in 2026 under ideal circumstances. This would be after Joshua defeated Fury twice and avenged his loss to Dubois. Beating Fury twice is realistic for AJ, but avenging his loss to Dubois is probably beyond what he is capable of due to his age and poor punch resistance.
Turki’s test
“As I want to see it, but you have to be sure that they focus, and they still have it,” said Turki Al-Shiekh on Carl Froch’s. YouTube channel when he was asked if he Anthony Joshua vs. Want to see Tyson Fury in 2025.
“Now we have to have it normal to lose some fights in boxing. All the fighters want to focus on the career of Mayweather with no losses. It can happen once every 50, 60, 70 years. We need the UFC model now. The champions are losing and winning,” says Turki, responding to Froch saying that Fury is getting depressed and moody. Froch says Fury is dealing with a second loss to Oleksandr Usyk.
Turki Al-Shiekh’s tone suggests he wants Joshua and Fury to win before starting a fight. How else can he find out if they “do you still have it?” He cannot do this by looking into their eyes, talking to them or watching them hit the mitts. They have to fight someone well.
The best way to do that would be for Joshua to fight Bakole and Fury to fight Dubois. If the old warriors pass those tests, you can say they’ve “still got it,” and it’s worth it for Turki to fund a fight between them.
Fighting news soon in Africa 👊❤️ @anthonyjoshua pic.twitter.com/DPLrHBpXyu
— Martin Bakole (@MartinBakole01) January 11, 2025
