Heavyweight contender Martin Bakool called out Anthony Joshua on X, told him he wanted to knock him out and insulted him because AJ expected Efe Ajagba to beat him.

Joshua’s priorities in 2025

Joshua (28-4, 25 KO) has a full plate in front of him for 2025 and is expected to fight Tyson Fury twice this year. If AJ gets through both of these fights with wins, he might be interested in fighting Bakoli if he holds a title.

Otherwise, it is unlikely that he and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, will want to take on the high-stakes fight against Bacoli, who looks like someone else Sonny Liston With the power he generates with short punches. He doesn’t need to finish his shots to deliver powerful knockouts, making him a poor choice for the lanky Joshua.

#3 IBF Bakole (21-1M 16 KOs) fights #5 Efe Ajagba (20-1, 14 KOs) next in an IBF title eliminator to determine the mandatory challenger for champion Daniel Dubois. Baccoli, 31, will be knocked out in the fifth round by America’s best heavyweight, Jared Anderson, on August 3 in Los Angeles.

You can never say never, but it’s unlikely that AJ and Hearn would choose to fight Bakoli because he’s wrong for them in every department. Joshua is more focused on Fury’s two fights in 2025 and avenging his humiliating fifth-round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois on September 21. This was the cruelest thing to happen to Anthony, as he crashed out of the tournament in front of a crowd of more than 90,000 at Wembley Stadium in London.

“Hey, Anthony Joshua, this video is for you. I called [you] I wanted to kick you out, and now you say Ajagba will beat me. shame on you. How many times have I called you? How many times have I asked you to fight in Africa? “You should be ashamed of yourself,” Martin Bacol said on X.

“I want to fight you. Look at Daniel Dubois – I broke his nose twice [in sparring] And he knocked you out cold. I’ll beat you in the first round. Are you talking about Ajagba? Ajagba baby, wait till you see how I knock him down.”

😡 for you @AnthonyJoshua 👊🇨🇩 pic.twitter.com/tRXfkDfI0E

– Martin Bakole (@MartinBakole01) January 6, 2025