Tony Bellew has called out Martin Bakole for claiming he's the most avoided heavyweight in boxing. The former cruiserweight champ doesn't buy it and thinks Bakole might even be overrated.
Bellew, who won both his heavyweight fights against David Haye, now keeps a close eye on the division. He's seen big changes lately with Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury losing their titles, and Oleksandr Usyk becoming the undisputed champ after beating Daniel Dubois last August.
Bakole has been making some noise, calling out many fighters and boasting about giving tough sparring to Dubois, Usyk, and Joshua. He's got some good wins under his belt, beating Carlos Takam and Jared Anderson. Right now, he's the number one contender and will face Efe Ajagba in a final eliminator for a shot at Daniel Dubois' IBF belt.
But Bellew's not impressed. In a recent interview, he didn't hold back:
"This tag of the bogeyman of the heavyweight division, I just think it's a bit of nonsense really. I think he's a really good fighter, I'm not saying he's not, I think he's strong. But I think you're blowing a bit of smoke when you say he's the most avoided heavyweight in the world. One big win over the likes of Jared Anderson is not gonna make you a world beater."
Bellew went on to question why Bakole hasn't tried to get even with Michael Hunter, who beat him in a close fight:
"I think he's a good fighter but I think he might even be a tad overrated because purely for the life of me I can't understand why he wouldn't want to run it back with Michael Hunter. If I was beaten in a close fight by anyone I'd run it back."
The fact that Bakole lost to Hunter, a naturally smaller fighter, seems to bother Bellew. He thinks if Bakole really wants to prove himself, he should be looking for that rematch instead of making big claims.
