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Efe Ajagba: I’ll Beat Bakole, Then Bring Me Usyk, Dubois

Our Reporters2 days ago2 days ago03 mins

Efe Ajagba is confident that his ‘power’ and ‘skills’ can topple Oleksandr Usyk or Daniel Dubois. The Nigerian hopes to stake his claim for a world heavyweight title fight when he takes on Martin Bakole on the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs William Scull undercard in Saudi Arabia on May 4. Ajagba goes into the Bakole fight in good form, having won his last five fights since being defeated by Frank Sanchez in October 2021, and admits his long-term goal is a title challenge against unified champion Usyk or IBF title holder Dubois. “I’m not overstepping. I’m just focused on Martin Bakole first,” Ajagba told Sky Sports. “After that, when I get the victory, that’s when I’m going to step up to fight who I want to fight next. Whether it’s Usyk or Dubois. “I have the abilities, I have the skills, I have the power, everything to become a heavyweight champion.” Bakole’s last fight came when he stepped in at two days’ notice to fight Joseph Parker after Dubois withdrew due to illness, but the Congolese contender suffered a second round knockout loss. Despite the manner of Bakole’s crushing defeat, Ajagba insists he is still wary of the threat posed by his opponent, who has beaten the likes of Jared Anderson, Tony Yoka and Carlos Takam. When asked about whether the defeat to Parker would have dented Bakole’s confidence, Ajagba said: “To me, in my opinion, I don’t think so. “I’m not going to take that knockout that he has [against Parker] to myself. I’m going to have more confidence to fight Martin Bakole. “I’m preparing for [the best of] him.”

Anthony Joshua desperately want Dubois rematch

Our Reporters6 months ago6 months ago04 mins

Anthony Joshua still wants an immediate rematch with Daniel Dubois. Dubois smashed Joshua into defeat with a stunning fifth-round knockout in their IBF world heavyweight title fight at Wembley Stadium last month. It was an astonishing upset that demolished the hopes of Joshua fighting the winner of the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury rematch for the undisputed heavyweight world championship in 2025. But rather than wait to finally take on his great rival Fury, former champion Joshua could choose to face Dubois once again in his next fight, as soon as February. Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn told Sky Sports: “My initial thought after the fight was let’s just chill out, maybe wait for Fury-Usyk. “AJ’s reaction was quite a bit different. Obviously out of pride you always want to take the rematch. But it’s a little bit more calculated than that. “It’s more like, well, what happens if Usyk-Fury doesn’t happen? What if someone gets injured, and even if it does happen they’re not going to fight again until July, August? Then I’m out the ring for nearly a year and I want to be active.” Joshua could always fight someone outside of that top three of Usyk, Fury and Dubois, with heavyweights like Deontay Wilder or Dillian Whyte under consideration. But Hearn explained Joshua’s current thinking, saying: “I want to win the world heavyweight title, and I’ve got a shot there to win the world heavyweight title in my hand. “Obviously it’s a dangerous fight but I can’t box any worse than I did.” The promoter added that he “would expect the fighter to say I want the instant rematch” but Hearn insisted: “When you start actually thinking about it, I don’t think there’s a bad decision to make. “I know that he is leaning towards the rematch because he wants to win the world heavyweight title. Versus fighting Wilder, waiting for Fury and then you’ve got all next year bubbling around not really fighting for the world heavyweight title.” Joshua isn’t expected to have many more fights in his whole career. “It could be one, it could be five. If he beats Dubois, probably another two or three. If he loses to Dubois, he’s in a real tough position,” Hearn said. “People keep saying the Fury fight’s still there. But if they both keep losing? It will always be there but at the same time, at what value? That depends on how they do.” But Joshua is still likely to take that gamble. “If it’s solely down to AJ, which it will be at the end of the day,” Hearn said, “I think it’s going to be very hard to talk him out of taking the rematch.”