Bakole’s Sparring Tales: Hype or heavyweight truth ahead of vital fight on Canelo card?

Martin Bakole is hoping to bounce back after a second-round knockout loss to Joseph Parker last year – he takes on Efe Ajagba on the Canelo vs Scull undercard in Riyadh tomorrow, Saturday, May 3.

The Congolese man possess immense power in both hands and claims to be the most-avoided heavyweight in the world because he has sparred with, and given a hard time to, the biggest names in the heavyweight division.

Regaling stories of broken noses, wobbly legs and body shots, Bakole is either a great salesman or a genuine heavyweight threat.

Which heavyweights does Bakole claim to have smashed in sparring?

The only claim of Bakole’s with any evidence to back it up is that he and Joe Joyce went toe-to-toe in sparring. The video, posted to X in March, last year garnered a lot of attention in the boxing community.

The clip shows he and Joyce exchanging single shots before Bakole unloads with a three-shot combination that knocks Joyce’s headguard off.

The post was captioned: “This is the reason why UK heavyweights are avoiding me guys.”

Bakole may not have been telling the whole story, however, as ‘The Juggernaut’ and his team responded with a video from what seems to be a different sparring session as Bakole is wearing different attire. It shows Bakole on his knees in the ring, looking like he was about to throw up into a bucket.

Joyce’s team claimed this was from an accumulation of body shots – Bakole refuted this, claiming he had eaten eggs on the way to sparring that had not agreed with him.

Throughout 2024, Bakole seemed unable to go the length of an interview without mentioning or being asked about sparring with Daniel Dubois.

Revealing what happens behind closed doors is usually not the done thing but Bakole was using it to get himself closer to a fight with the IBF champion.

He told iFL TV: “I broke his nose twice and stopped him. That is not a lie because, he would never come say that I am lying,”

These claims have never been confirmed, nor have they been addressed by Dubois, but Bakole does admit that he uses these sparring stories to sell himself.

"People are telling me not to talk about sparring,” he told talkSport. “But people forget I'm from Africa and it's very hard for me to sell tickets, so I need to sell myself."

Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk is another of the names that the heavy hitter from the Democratic Republic of the Congo has claimed to have roughed up in sparring.

"Even Usyk, I don't think he'd say yes (to fighting me)," Bakole said on Sky Sports, “because I stopped him in Dubai in sparring. He knows how good I am. I don't know if he'll say yes again to fight me as well. I am telling the truth."

The Usyk camp responded to this and although they gave credit to Bakole as one of the best sparring partners Usyk has had, they insisted that it was their man who nearly stopped the Congolese slugger.

AJ sparred with Bakole in Sheffield whilst still under the tutelage of Rob McCracken. Bakole claims that he was one of seven guys to spar Joshua on the first day.

Once the second day rolled around it was only him and Agit Kabayel left in the gym. He sparred six rounds with the former unified heavyweight champion.

"The first round went nice," Bakole told talkSport. "But AJ tried to knock me out but I was like, 'What the hell?'" So my coach said 'show him', and I caught him with a beautiful left hand. It shook his head and shook his legs.

Everyone went quiet in the gym, I used the left hook yeah and people saw it."

Bakole has made bold claims outside the ring — now he must deliver inside it. A convincing performance against Ajagba this weekend would be the first step toward proving he belongs among the heavyweight elite.