Heavyweight contender Martin Bakole called out Anthony Joshua on X, telling him he wanted to knock him out and taking offense to AJ predicting Efe Ajagba to beat him.
Joshua’s priorities in 2025
Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) has a full slate ahead of him for 2025 and is expected to fight Tyson Fury twice this year. If AJ comes through those two fights with wins, he might be interested in fighting Bakole if he holds a title.
Other than that, he and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, are unlikely to want to take on the risky fight against Bakole, who is like another. Sonny Liston with the power he generates with short strokes. He doesn’t need to wiggle on his shots to land hard knockouts, which makes him a bad option for the chinny Joshua.
#3 IBF Bakole (21-1m 16 KOs) fights #5 Efe Ajagba (20-1, 14 KOs) next in an IBF title eliminator to determine a mandatory challenger for champion Daniel Dubois. Bakole, 31, is coming off a fifth-round knockout of America’s top heavyweight prospect, Jared Anderson, on Aug. 3 in Los Angeles.
You can never say never, but it is unlikely that AJ and Hearn will ever choose to fight Bakole because he is wrong for them in every department. Joshua is more focused on the two Fury fights in 2025 and avenging his humiliating fifth-round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois on September 21. It was the unkindest track of all for Anthony, as he was knocked out in front of a crowd of over 90,000 fans at London’s Wembley Stadium.
“Hey Anthony Joshua, this video is for you. I called (you), I wanted to knock you out, and now you say Ajagba is going to beat me. Shame on you How many times have I called you out? How many times have I asked you to fight in Africa? You should be ashamed of yourself,” said Martin Bakole on X.
“I want to fight you. Look at Daniel Dubois – I broke his nose twice (in sparring) and he knocked you out cold. I will knock you out in the first round. You are talking about Ajagba? Ajagba is a baby, wait till you see how I’m going to knock him out.”
😡 for you @anthonyjoshua 👊🇨🇩 pic.twitter.com/tRXfkDfI0E
— Martin Bakole (@MartinBakole01) January 6, 2025
