There are several enormous fights available for Anthony Joshua in 2025, including major matchups against Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, and Zhilei Zhang.
There’s also heavyweight prospect Martin Bakole, who is desperate to add his name to that shortlist; in the hopes of ruffling AJ’s feathers, the 21-1 power puncher has now sent an ominous threat to the British juggernaut.
Anthony Joshua threatened by 21-1 heavyweight power puncher
During a recent trip to Nigeria, Anthony Joshua was asked to make an early prediction for the upcoming IBF title eliminator between Martin Bakole and Efe Ajagba; the undisputed IBF championship belt is currently held by Daniel Dubois.
“Two giants of Africa coming together to collide, it’s going to be an interesting fight,” stated Joshua to Sportsboom, offering a slight chuckle as he acknowledged: “Efe is a good boxer, and obviously, I’m going to support Efe, even though he doesn’t support me.”
“I’m backing him [to defeat Bakole] because we are from the same place, and I really want to see him do well.”
Those comments certainly haven’t sat well with Bakole, who launched a vicious verbal assault against Joshua for picking his incoming opponent over him.
“Ey, Anthony Joshua – this video is for you – I want to knock you out and now you’re talking s*** saying Ajagba is going to beat me,” Bakole lamented via a social media post.
“Shame on you – How many times did I call you out? How many times did I ask you to fight in Africa? You don’t feel ashamed of yourself? I want to fight you, and I want to knock you out.
“Look at Daniel Dubois, broke his nose twice and he knocked you out cold – what happened to me? I’ll knock you out in the first round.”
After initially being rumored to feature on the Riyadh Season: Bivol vs Beterbiev 2 card, reports now claim that Ajagba vs Bakole has now been moved to post-February – a more specific date and location remains TBA.
“You’re talking about Ajagba, but Ajagba is a baby, wait to see how I am going to knock him out,” continued Bakole: “I’ll invite you to be there – you’re talking s***, I want to fight you, stop talking nonsense.
“Now you say that you’re Nigerian, you are not British anymore, I’ll knock you out – I’m the African champion, I’m an African warrior and I will knock you out… After knocking Ajagba out, I’ll knock you out as well.”
Anthony Joshua sets deadline for enormous Tyson Fury showdown
A potential showdown between Joshua and Bakole would be an interesting affair, especially in the build-up, but there’s very little chance that AJ would accept this latest callout.
To be quite honest, there’s only one fight to make next; that being the long-awaited Battle of Britain against Tyson ‘The Gypsy King’ Fury.
During the aforementioned trip to Nigeria, Joshua would state that fight “has to happen in 2025,” with speculation being that super-fight could generate over £250 million ($310M) if it’s held at Wembley Stadium.
“I’ve been involved in a whole lot of fights, but this fight has to happen in 2025… Of course it has to happen and, hopefully, it does happen. Time is limited. So, I just want to put in more work.
“Time is of the essence. In 2024, when I look back, I believe I could have done more, and I have another chance in 2025 to do more.
“I’m going to make sure that I take every opportunity that comes my way. I’m going to go again. Ups and downs, they happen. To some people, it’s always up. My life is up and down, so I have to get used to the turbulent times and keep riding the wave.”
Who would you like to see Joshua fight next, and is Bakole even on that shortlist of potential opponents?