Bakole's Coach: "In a fight against Usyk, Joshua may not be able to stand functionally"

In a week's time we will see the IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) fight against WBO mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk (18-0, 13 KOs). Congolese Martin Bakole (16-1, 12 KOs) is AJ's regular sparring partner and has been in Usyk's camp in recent weeks. Martin's trainer Billy Nelson recently summarized his sparring encounters with the Ukrainian and predicted the course of the Usyk-Joshua fight.

"Martin has been sparred with Usyk in Kiev for over two weeks. He said Usyk was ready to fight for the world heavyweight title. They say he can't take a hard punch from a real heavyweight, but that's not true. He's very, very good, and he had a lot of praise for Martin. It was a great sparring session," Nelson stated.

"Joshua is a beast, a fantastic boxer. Very strong, with a great straight left and a powerful power punch. But if someone is boxing well and you can't hit them, there's not much you can do. Murat Gassiev hits extremely hard, but he couldn't get anything going in his fight with Usyk. In my opinion, Joshua needs to focus on body attacks and then move on to head punches. In the second half of the fight everything will be decided, tactical and psychological discipline will play a major role," the Scottish coach added.

"Usyk may get tired, not be able to keep up with Joshua's pace and power, but Joshua may not be able to cope with his form either. We've seen it before. I'm betting on Joshua, but I give him only a little more chance than Usyk," the charismatic trainer said.