The Heavyweight Bogeyman is ‘Coming for Daniel Dubois

On September 21, Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) destroyed Anthony Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) by fifth-round KO to retain the IBF heavyweight title at Wembley Stadium. The heavyweight division continues to attract plenty of interest and many rumours have surfaced that Dubois will rematch AJ. It now appears Martin Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs) is eying his IBF shot, with his promoter Ben Shalom firing a warning to current titlist Dubois.

Ben Shalom Sends Warning to Daniel Dubois

Path to IBF Glory for Bakole

Bakole hasn’t been incredibly active and has been described as an avoided fighter by many. American hope Jared Anderson decided to take on the big punching Congolese fighter, with Bakole decisively stopping Anderson in round five of their clash.

The big-punching 32-year-old has previously revealed he stopped Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois in sparring. Whether we accept this or not, it’s difficult to ignore Bakole and how devastating his performance was against “The Real Big Baby.”

It had seemed Bakole would face the dangerous German-based fighter Agit Kabayel. Still, Kabayel has already withdrawn from an IBF eliminator bout with another big puncher, Zhilei Zhang (IBF number 5) now eligible to face the Congo fighter.

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When speaking to Sky Sports, Shalom explained the current IBF situation:  “Agit Kabayel pulled out of the purse bids. He didn’t want the fight. Zhilei Zhang has now been ordered. We expect him to turn the fight down too.”

He continued: “They can run but they can’t hide. Martin is in a great position. He will fight for the mandatory spot against whoever is willing to step up and then fight for the IBF World Title.”

Referring to the sparring stories of Bakole: “There is a reason people don’t want to fight Martin. We’ve all heard the sparring stories,” said Shalom.

“There is a reason people don’t want to fight Martin. We’ve all heard the sparring stories.”

Shalom made it clear he sees Bakole ruling the heavyweight division: “He is the bogeyman of the division, but his time is coming and once he becomes IBF World Champion, he can rule the division for a long time.”

Daniel Dubois and IBF Title

Dubois is expected to return in February to defend his IBF strap voluntarily, with fellow Queensberry Promotions fighter Joseph Parker, the preferred opponent. The IBF have already stated that Dubois will be notified towards the end of April regarding his mandatory in June, which could be Bakole.

The regulations of the governing body states the champion “shall be obligated to mandatorily defend his championship within intervals of no more than nine months against the leading available contender in the heavyweight division as designated by the championships chairman.”

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Ben Shalom appears confident that Bakole will be the mandatory challenger for Dubois in 2025: “Martin Bakole will be world champion in the next 12 months,” Shalom said.

Shalom continued: “He has a clear route to the IBF World Title so people can’t avoid him any longer. He’s coming for Daniel Dubois.”

“It’s an exciting time for Martin. He is one fight away from boxing for the IBF World Title,” added the BOXXER CEO.