With Tyson Fury out of the picture, speculation is rife as to who could be next in line for former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
One man who’s been incessantly calling out the British superstar is 21-1 Congolese heavyweight contender Martin Bakole, who recently made waves by claiming that Joshua had agreed to the fight.
Unfortunately for those of us who were looking forward to that heavyweight showdown, boxing insider Gareth A. Davies has reportedly conferred with the Joshua team, who state that nothing’s come across their desk… Yet.
Gareth A. Davies disputes claim that Joshua vs Bakole is ‘signed’
Over the weekend, Martin Bakole and Boxxer promoter Ben Shalom ‘confirmed’ via TalkSport that the enormous fight with Anthony Joshua had already been signed.
“My fight against him in Africa will be a big one,” teased Bakole, adding, “I think it will happen in the Congo.”
Shalom reaffirmed that the bout with Joshua was done: “I’m hearing he’s [Joshua] signed and we’re off to the Congo.”
Upon hearing the news that Joshua vs Bakole had been made, boxing journalist and industry insider Gareth A. Davies reached out to AJ’s team for confirmation.
“Well, I mean obviously with them saying that I had to check that out with certain people today who will remain nameless [and] off the record,” Davies stated to BoxNation earlier this week.
“But I’m hearing from the Joshua side that there hasn’t even been a conversation.
“Maybe this is Martin Bakole and his team trying to speak the fight into reality, given that Anthony Joshua doesn’t have a fight yet and Tyson Fury has retired and that’s the obvious fight this Summer.”
Davies noted that such a showdown would be a “massive spectacle in Africa,” especially if Joshua and Bakole locked horns in the same stadium that once hosted the Rumble in the Jungle.
“It’s a great event to have there if they can do it 51 years on from the Rumble in the Jungle, but I’m sorry – I’m hearing that there hasn’t even been a conversation about it.”
According to Bakole, Chairman of the GEA Turki Alalshikh has already told him that he’ll work to make the fight with Joshua for later in 2025 – Davies argues that might, again, be a negotiation tactic to get Joshua to the table.
“I think it’s something that Billy Nelson, his trainer, Ben Shalom, maybe it’s been discussed, or it’s come across the desk of Turki Alalshikh and he’s gone ‘Yeah, I like the sound of that’ but what I’m hearing from the Joshua camp is that it’s not even a discussion right now.”
New potential opponent for Joshua emerges from a surprising direction
Given this late stage of Joshua’s career, there likely aren’t many fights left for the British juggernaut, which opens the door for more left-field opponents to stake their claim.
In fact, in the same style as Francis Ngannou’s boxing foray against both AJ and Fury, Joshua has now been called out by former UFC fighter turned Bare-Knuckle champion Ben Rothwell.
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show, Rothwell stated that he’d love to bow out of combat sports with a super-fight (and super-payday) against either Ngannou or Joshua.
“How much time have I got? Maybe a year or so, it really depends. But [I want] Francis Ngannou [and] Anthony Joshua… To put the gloves on and prove how good at boxing I am would very much be a bucket list item.
“I just don’t feel like I’ve ever gotten to show the boxing world how good of a boxer I am.
“Right now, the BKFC and UFC fans just say I’m a brawler. They don’t understand my precision, they don’t understand how capable I truly am, but if I got to fight one of them, that would be a huge opportunity for me to show the world how good I really am.”
Who would you like to see Anthony Joshua fight next; should he stay firmly within the realms of professional boxing and face Bakole, or take a relatively easy tune-up fight against someone like Rothwell?