Oleksandr Usyk may only have one or two fights left, and one heavyweight is keen to make sure he gets his shot.
Usyk had completed boxing by any measure. He is a three-time undisputed champion across two divisions and the first man to ever be twice undisputed at heavyweight in the four-belt era.
He has beaten Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Daniel Dubois on two occasions each and is now at the end of his career as he approaches 40-years-old, so is carefully deciding who to fight next, if anyone.
Speaking to Seconds Out, Martin Bakole has thrown his hat in the ring again and shared one of his brutal sparring stories, which includes having Usyk in all sorts of trouble.
“To be honest, Usyk knows himself, every time I go there to spar him I always give him trouble. They only give me two rounds. That two rounds is hell. He knows.
“When I was sparring the first time, I was giving him a hard time, he starts shouting, went mad, jumped out of the ring, started shouting at his coach. I never said this before but ask his team, they know, he was bleeding everywhere. And that was the first time.
“They called me again in Dubai, and I only did two rounds. But in that two rounds, he was in trouble. So he knows that Martin Bakole in a fight I will smoke him easy. These people know, that’s why they’re quiet.”
He then expanded his claims further before doubling down on his prediction.
“You remember at The Ring Magazine show they was asking me questions, he was over my shoulder saying hey that was sparring. No, he got knocked out.
“Even though I stopped him there is no story to tell. It’s true. I tell you I beat him like a baby, he was out of the ring, his coach was asking what to do, and he couldn’t do it. They started speaking Ukrainian and I kept standing in the ring, he got out, then about three or four minutes he came back again.
“Usyk, I always say this, people say I’m crazy, but the only man who can stop Usyk right now is Martin Bakole.”
Bakole got stopped inside two rounds by Joseph Parker earlier this year, before he was then held to a draw with Efe Ajagba in May.
Parker is now WBO mandatory for Usyk, so is higher up the list of possible opponents than Bakole, though a fight with Jake Paul in MMA has also been mentioned.