Comments Thread For: After Saturday's upset, Martin Bakole already has eyes on next target

[1Eriugenus]

'I'd be interested to see Bakole vs the likes of Zhang/Parker/Kabayel. A big dude who can crack generally makes for a fun heavyweight fight. He did better moving his head than I was expecting too. Anderson is young; he just wasn't ready. I think he would do fine vs Miller or Ruiz.'

Before the fight Bakole's coach referred to this & said he wasn't impressed with Anderson's head movement. I can't really comment because I didn't see any head movement. Anderson was meant to be the future of the H/W division so it is clearly going to be left pretty empty once Usyk, Fury & AJ join Wilder in retirement. As always, the title will splinter into at least 4 separate belts up for grabs, except this time I don't think there will be 8 H/Ws able to contest them. Bakole, Parker, Dubois (if AJ doesn't batter him too bad), Zhang may still be going, Torres? It is hard to think of anyone else. Anderson got beat up pretty bad last night & people don't always recover from that.

[mapleleaf27]

Not sure why they call it an upset, I had it pretty much a 50/50 fight leaning towards bakole’s power , totally disrespectful to call it an upset .

Anderson was a -170 favorite, [ lay 170 to win 100 ] , Bakole was the underdog +150 [ lay 100 to win 150 ] Casino's invest on consultants who determine odds that wiil hopefully garner equal action on both sides

[EnglishOxide]

I wanna see Bakole v Whyte or Ngannou.

[ddeg10]

I'd love to see Bakole versus just about anyone. Reminded me of the 90's version of George Foreman. He put some devastating combos together. Fun to watch

[1Eriugenus]

'I'd love to see Bakole versus just about anyone. Reminded me of the 90's version of George Foreman. He put some devastating combos together. Fun to watch'

Oftentimes Bakole just puts together half-arm shots without putting his full weight into the blows. last night he definitely was punching more correctly.

[BlackRobb]

Bakole vs. Emporer Zhang

[BustedKnuckles]

I like Hunter but I haven't seen anything recent to suggest he would be able to repeat his win over Bakole. I'm surprised Martin mentioned him as a potential next opponent, it seems like a step back since Hunter hasn't kept himself relevant.

On another note, crazy that Bakole.is Junior Makabu's younger brother. Imagine the sibling dust-ups in that household!

Professionally it's a step back now. So then it must be the personal need to avenge a loss.

He didn't ask my advice, but he should weigh that against fighting whatever top guy he can get now. Makmudov? Zhang? Kabayel?

Edit: by "now" i mean next, within 6 months.

[JakeTheBoxer]

He looked great here but he has 21 fights and has hardly beaten anyone. Looks very open to a hard puncher too. Looking forward to seeing him in tougher fights now

He just beat top 10 guy.

Fury got dropped by Ufc bum. Joshua got stopped by Ruiz. Usyk was hurt by Dubois.

I think that top 3 are not really superior compared to others.

[BrankoB]

Bakole is strong and rangy, but very limited. Anderson wasn't ready and had nothing but his grit to carry him for as long as it lasted

Bakole's matchmakers need to keep it to top 10-15 type guys for now until he targets the body more, improves his overall defense, and increases his stamina

I agree with you but I cannot see Bakole improving any of those things. He came into this fight, which is probably the highest profile / visibility fight in his life, out of shape which means he is lazy in the gym and relies on his size and brute strength. I can only see his conditioning getting worse with age, not better. He has no defense either and does not seem to care if he is punched, once again purely relying on his power to carry him through. I enjoyed the fight though and he will probably give us a few more fun fights to watch.

[boxing IQ]

I agree with you but I cannot see Bakole improving any of those things. He came into this fight, which is probably the highest profile / visibility fight in his life, out of shape which means he is lazy in the gym and relies on his size and brute strength. I can only see his conditioning getting worse with age, not better. He has no defense either and does not seem to care if he is punched, once again purely relying on his power to carry him through. I enjoyed the fight though and he will probably give us a few more fun fights to watch.

It was a very good fight! It stood out even on a card this stacked

Bakole's certainly not body beautiful, though I don't know if it's laziness so much as being a Fury/Ruiz type putting emphasis on other aspects of training. He got the shot he wanted and delivered BIG. He'll use these earnings to beef up his camp
Being defensively irresponsible will hurt any fighter at heavyweight. For a guy that size, I was actually impressed with the slipping he did before eating shots to get his own off. I suspect in wearing Anderson down, Bakole tasted blood and went for it

Anderson wasn't quite ready for that big a step-up, but he can come back if he learns to cut angles, stay off the center line, find a way to get on the inside (which would've helped smother Bakole's power and negate the reach advantage), not stand there and trade, not abandon the jab, make adjustments, etc. I like the kid. Started off well, showed MASSIVE heart, and landed some great shots

We can look forward to both their next fights