Joe Rogan is very excited about a heavyweight boxer ‘nobody is talking about’.
Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, and Deontay Wilder are boxing’s most famous big men, but the UFC legend thinks an up-and-coming contender could beat them all.
Martin Bakole is a 6ft 6in KO artist from Congo, who has amassed a 22-1 record while quietly climbing the heavyweight ranks.
The 31-year-old recently enjoyed a breakout performance as he dropped American prospect Jared Anderson three times en route to a shock fifth-round knockout victory.
Joe Rogan believes Martin Bakole is ‘the future’ of heavyweight boxing
Joe Rogan was recently discussing Dana White’s transition to boxing during a ‘Fight Companion’ episode of his popular podcast, but the 57-year-old soon became distracted by his new favorite fighter.
He said: “The Saudis are just saying, ‘I wanna see this fight. What is it gonna cost?’
“When Martin Bakole fought Jared Anderson, Jared Anderson’s people were saying, ‘Do not take that fight’. Martin Bakole is the most dangerous fighter in the heavyweight division that nobody knows about. Martin Bakole is f***ing terrifying.”
Rogan’s producer pulled up highlights from Bakole’s big win over Anderson as the UFC commentator continued to rave about him as a potential world champion.
He added: “This is Martin Bakole, he’s the most-feared heavyweight. He’s f***ing huge, and Jared Anderson was undefeated, he was like the American prospect and Bakole just put it to him. And he’s really hard to hit too, man.
“[Anderson] just took this fight too early and Bakole is just f***ing huge. Bakole is like 266lbs. He’s the next wave. He can do it right now, he f***s those guys up in sparring. The stories about this guy in sparring, everybody he brings in he gives them a world of hell.
“I’m telling you, man, nobody knows who this guy is. Martin Bakole, he’s the f***ing future. That’s the future, he knocks everyone out [and] he’s got an iron chin.”
Martin Bakole claims he KO’d Oleksandr Usyk in sparring
Bakole believes he is the most avoided man in heavyweight boxing.
The African puncher first made a name for himself as a sparring partner of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Joe Joyce, Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois.
Bakole has repeatedly claimed that he dropped Usyk and Dubois, who hold all four of the major heavyweight titles between them, in sparring.
“I don’t lie, I don’t like to lie,” Bakole told talkSPORT.com. “I always tell the truth. If you watch BOXXER’s video you will see.
“I was live on Sky Sports and Oleksandr Usyk’s manager came behind me and said ‘This guy is going to be world champion tomorrow’ because he knows, who I am, he was in the gym when I gave Usyk a hard time.
“Usyk never even touched me, I smashed him and knocked him out. I knocked him out with a body shot.
“This is the reason why I accepted to spar with these guys because after I spar with them, I give them a hard time, people talk about me and they get to know about me.
“Ask anyone about me. Go ask Daniel Dubois about me, ask Joshua about me, ask Usyk about me, ask Tyson Fury about me, they will keep quiet. Nobody will say they gave me a hard time.
“I gave them all a hard time. I stopped Daniel Dubois twice, stopped Joe Joyce and Joshua oh, that was a big one, he was hurt that day.”