Daniel Dubois legitimised his status as a heavyweight world champion with a destructive win over Anthony Joshua.
The 27-year-old was ‘gifted’ the belt by former opponent Oleksandr Usyk when he vacated to fulfil a rematch with Tyson Fury rather than fight his mandatory.
Whilst some in the sport questioned how much Dubois deserved the title, there was no doubting his first defence against the more experienced and favoured ‘AJ’. Dubois scored three heavy knockdowns on his way to an emphatic stoppage in the fifth round.
Thoughts now turn to where he goes next – a rematch with Joshua, a fight against the winner of Usyk-Fury for undisputed or a more low-key defence against a top contender.
Should his team choose the last option, one man who believes he will never be chosen is Martin Bakole. Long claimed to be the most avoided heavyweight on the planet, the 31-year-old is coming off a statement win over another young fighter in Jared Anderson, one who was considered alongside Dubois as the future of the division.
When speaking to Seconds Out, Bakole’s trainer Billy Nelson said he didn’t hold out much hope at all for the match-up.
“Martin Bakole is levels above Daniel Dubois. Levels. He’s proved it already to him when he made him quit in sparring, broke his nose… He’s done it all with him and that was only when he was 60% in second gear. He will annihilate Daniel. Daniel knows it.
See if they think I’m talking s**t, make the fight and we’ll prove it, gladly. They won’t make the fight. You can’t blame him. Frank Warren’s team will never, unless Martin becomes the mandatory challenger, fight Martin Bakole. We already got [Zhilei] Zhang to run away.”
Nelson says Bakole will instead fight his way to the titles via the rankings systems and has an opponent that will boost his man up considerably.
