Ben Shalom calls for Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk winner to face ‘most avoided heavyweight on the planet’
Martin Bakole's promoter, Ben Shalom, wants to see his fighter in with the winner of Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk next.
The Congolese puncher established himself as a legitimate heavyweight contender with a one-sided stoppage victory over highly-rated prospect Jared Anderson on the Terence Crawford vs Israil Madrimov undercard.
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Before the fight, Anderson had been dubbed the future of the heavyweight division by several news outlets and was a sizeable favourite with the bookies.
However, Bakole ran right through him on Saturday night, dropping the American three times en route to a fifth-round knockout victory.
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Bakole, who is now 21-1 as a pro, came into the contest on a 10-fight win streak and has been campaigning for the big fights for several years to no avail.
The difficulty of finding an opponent for Bakole led to Shalom branding him the 'most avoided heavyweight on the planet'.
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But the BOXXER chief is hoping that his win over Anderson will now open doors to some seismic showdowns.
"We knew it was coming but obviously you still get the nerves, anything can happen in the ring," Shalom told after Bakole's statement victory.
"You don't know how he is feeling or how he slept but he was so relaxed and it was just far too early for Jared Anderson, a test like that.
"But saying that, Martin does that to 95 per cent of heavyweights.
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"I think it should have been stopped way earlier than it was.
"A count of 25 seconds doesn't always help a fighter, I know they wanted him to win but having him get up three times is unnecessary.
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"But Jared has a lot of heart because after that first round, a lot fighters would have caved in.
"But for Martin so delighted. For us now, we will take anyone.
"Ultimately we want the winner of Fury vs Usyk and if Usyk wins they won't want to see the AJ fight again they will want to see Usyk tested.
"But Kabayel and Zhang they are the available heavyweights, maybe Joseph Parker."
Usyk and Fury are set to run it back on December 21 after the Ukrainian won their inaugural encounter via split decision in May.
His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has stated his intentions to have the winner of Usyk vs Fury face whoever emerges victorious from Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois' IBF title fight on September 21.
However, Usyk has already beaten both men meaning there could be an opening for someone like Bakole after another big win.
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