Joshua’s Stare Down: Is he intimidated by Bakole or is he hiding his fear?

Anthony Joshua and Martin Bakole posed for a face-off during the Saturday Ring Awards in London, England.

Stared Down In London

It was interesting to see the intensity on the face of the two-time former heavyweight champion Joshua in the showdown with the highly ranked Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs). It was like AJ trying to intimidate Bakole and send a message about what would await him if they ever met in the ring. The two are not expected to fight in 2025, and probably never.

Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, said the plan is for AJ to fight Tyson Fury twice in 2025 and possibly a rematch against IBF champion Daniel Dubois. Hearn would resist letting Joshua fight Bakole with all the strength of his being because he would know what would happen to AJ if that match happened.

If there was to be a fight with Bakola, it would be in 2026 under ideal circumstances. This would be after Joshua defeated Fury twice and avenged his loss to Dubois. Beating Fury twice is realistic for AJ, but avenging his loss to Dubois is probably more than he’s capable of due to his age and low punch resistance.

Turkey’s test

“As I want to see, but you have to make sure they focus and they still have that,” Turki Al Sheik told Carl Froch YouTube channel when asked if he wanted to watch Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury in 2025.

“Now we have to be normal to lose some fights in the box. All fighters want to focus on Mayweather’s 0-loss career. This can happen once every 50, 60, 70 years. Now we need a UFC model. “Champions lose and win,” Turki said, reacting to Froch telling him that Fury was depressed and moody. Froch says Fury is dealing with a second loss to Alexander Usyk.

Turki Al-Shieh’s tone suggests he wants Joshua and Fury to win before he starts the fight. How else can he find out if they are “do you still have?” He can’t do that by looking them in the eye, talking to them, or watching them hit their gloves. They have to fight someone good.

The best way to do this would be to have Joshua fight Bakole and Fury in a fight against Dubois. If the old warriors pass those tests, then it can be said that they “still have it” and that it is worth it for Turkey to finance the fight between them.

Soon news about the fight in Africa 👊❤ @anthonijoshua pic.tvitter.com/DPLrHBpKsiu

— Martin Bakole (@MartinBakole01) January 11, 2025