Martin Bakole has been on the receiving end of punches from both Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
Bakole is a well-travelled heavyweight who has sparred most of today’s top talents.
He has even claimed before that he managed to stop Usyk with a body shot during one of the spars, which is something team Usyk denied.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Bakole reflected on sparring sessions with both men and admitted that Fury, who lost to Usyk in May, made most of an impression on him.
“The only person I’m impressed with is Tyson Fury. He’s a big guy, he moves a lot. He moves his head.”
He then said the spar with Usyk was more intense due to the size of the ring they were in.
“Usyk I sparred in a small ring so I always gave him a hard time. Oh, if you could see his face when he sparred me, it’s focused. Because I gave him a hard time, under pressure all the time. Tyson Fury, we sparred in a big ring, relaxed, very good sparring to watch.”
Following the experiences, Bakole thinks Fury has what it takes to win the rematch between the two in December.
“I was surprised [when Usyk beat Fury]. I was not only surprised by Usyk, I was surprised by Tyson Fury’s performance. He was playing. He was supposed to be focused like he was in the Deontay Wilder rematch. If he takes that mentality in the rematch I think he will stop Usyk like he did with Deontay. Because the Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury rematch, we saw a different Tyson Fury, focused, coming to win.”
Bakole then said Fury needs to be fully focussed for the second fight.
“Putting his hands behind his back, not moving, that is showing that you’re not focused. One round changed everything. One left hook changed everything. I want him to be 100 per cent focused, not playing around. [Usyk] is coming 100 per cent focused to win the fight. So you need to be the same.”
Bakole is currently No 1 in the WBA’s rankings and would no doubt love a shot at the winner of this fight. Last time out he stopped American star Jared Anderson in Los Angeles after knocking him down several times early on and has also spoken about a desire to rematch Michael Hunter, the one man to have beaten him so far.
