Bakole sits at number one in the WBA rankings and the IBF has told him to fight for a mandatory spot. He's set to face Agit Kabayel next, a boxer who's pulled off some big wins lately against Arslanbek Makhmudov and Frank Sanchez.
But Nelson's got his sights set higher. In a chat with Boxing Social, he made some bold claims about Bakole's chances against the champs.
"Usyk will not fight Martin. Martin will stop Usyk."
That's a big statement about Oleksandr Usyk, who holds the WBC, WBA, and WBO belts. Usyk just beat Tyson Fury to become the four-belt champ but had to give up the IBF title due to a rematch clause. He'll face Fury again on December 21.
Nelson didn't stop there. He also took aim at IBF champ Daniel Dubois:
"Daniel might vacate rather than fight Martin. Martin will obliterate Daniel Dubois."
Dubois just knocked out Anthony Joshua in five rounds at Wembley in his first title defense. There's talk of an immediate rematch.
Nelson backed up his claims with stories from sparring sessions. He says Bakole schooled Dubois when he wasn't even fully fit:
"Martin wasn't fully fit (70%). He schooled him, stopped him, made him quit, broke his nose."
Nelson says he and Barry McGuigan saw it happen. Bakole himself has claimed he stopped Usyk in sparring, but Nelson wasn't there for that one.
The heavyweight division's got two world champs now after a long time with just one. Usyk and Fury's fight was the first undisputed clash in over 20 years. With all these in-form contenders waiting for their shot, things are heating up at the top of boxing's glamour division.