Deontay Wilder plans to keep fighting after two tough losses in Saudi Arabia. But Martin Bakole, who didn't get to face Wilder, says he'd knock him out fast if they ever met in the ring.
Wilder, the 39-year-old from Alabama, lost by knockout to Zhilei Zhang and then dropped a one-sided decision to Joseph Parker. Many thought he'd call it quits after that second defeat.
Bakole, on the other hand, made a big statement when he beat up rising star Jared Anderson last August. He told IFL TV that Wilder ducked him:
"Wilder avoided me. He [chose] not to fight me and pick Joseph Parker … I would knock him out in the first round. I was going to knock him out cold.
He's small. Everyone knows he was aggressive but we saw him playing in the ring and [not able to] engage the fight. I was going to stop him. Parker gave him time to survive, but I was not going to give him time to survive."
Bakole doubled down on those comments in a more recent video, saying it would be an "easy finish" if they ever fought.
Right now, Bakole's got his sights set on a different opponent. He'll face Efe Ajagbe in May to become the mandatory challenger for the IBF title. If he wins, he'll get a shot at the winner of the upcoming Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker fight.
Oleksandr Usyk's promoter Alex Krassyuk has even called Bakole the "future heavyweight king."
A Wilder vs Bakole fight seems unlikely at this point. But if Wilder wants one last shot at the top, these are the kinds of tough opponents he'll have to face.
Wilder's comeback hit a snag recently when his planned fight with journeyman Curtis Harper fell through. Reports say it was because of money problems with the promotional company BLK Prime.
