Martin Bakole boldly promised to knock out the Ukrainian.
Congolese heavyweight boxer Martin Bakole addressed the WBA, WBO, WBC and IBO world champion Oleksandr Usyk and threatened to knock him out in their possible future duel.
The 31-year-old African said that he is the only boxer who is currently capable of defeating the Ukrainian. According to him, Usyk and his team know this and are afraid to meet him in the ring.
Bakole promised to “knock out” the Ukrainian champion, take all his belts from him and hold them for five years.
“People who know boxing know that the only one who will give Usyk problems now, and not only give him problems, but knock him out and win the fight against him, is Martin Bakole. I've been saying this for five years. The only person who confirmed this was Usyk's manager. He said that I am the champion of tomorrow. He can confirm this himself.
Imagine, Usyk's manager says this because he saw me in Ukraine when I sparred with Usyk, he saw every sparring session I do. Usyk himself knows this, and his team knows that I am the only one who can beat him. Once I jump in the ring, I don't care who you are or what you do in boxing. I'm going out there to rip your head off! They know this and that's why they are afraid. I'm glad that they avoid me and I'm proud of it.
I'm coming for you guys! I know people wanna see a big fight. People wanna see me, Martin Bakole, in the ring because they know the history of sparring. The boxing world is not that big, people know what happened in the gym. But now people wanna see me on TV, knocking all the guys out this year. I'm gonna win the world title, I'm gonna win all the belts and I'm gonna hold them for 5-10 years. And I'm gonna retire with the belt. I'm gonna beat Usyk, I'm gonna knock him out! Usyk, if you're watching this video, I'm gonna knock you out, take all the belts and I'm gonna hold them for 5 years! “I'll knock you out,” Bakole said in an interview with IFL TV.
Bakole has had 22 professional fights, winning 21 of them (16 by knockout). His only defeat came in October 2018, when he lost to American Michael Hunter, whom Usyk defeated back in 2017 when he was fighting in the cruiserweight division.
See also: Usyk's ex-coach reacted to his victory in the rematch with Fury and advised the Ukrainian to end his career
Let us recall that on the night of December 22, 2024, Usyk defeated Tyson Fury in a rematch by unanimous decision (three times 116-112) and defended his WBA, WBO, WBC and IBO heavyweight titles. Fury did not admit defeat to Usyk, disagreeing with the judges' verdict. The Ukrainian boxer responded categorically to these words of the “Gypsy King”, stating that he had won a deserved victory. Unlike the first fight, the Usyk-Fury rematch did not involve the title of absolute world champion, since Alexander had previously renounced the IBF title. Now it is owned by the Briton Daniel Dubois, who has already managed to defend it by knocking out his compatriot Anthony Joshua.
After Usyk's victory over Fury in the rematch, Dubois got into the ring and challenged the Ukrainian to a fight. Alexander agreed and asked to organize a fight with Daniel, whom he had already knocked out in August 2023.