August 19, (THEWILL) – The camp of Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Usyk, Ukrainian challenger of world boxing heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, has been left impressed by his sparring partner, Congolese heavyweight boxer Martin Bakole, whom they brought in to assist in sharpening the Ukrainian’s sparring skills.
Bakole’s trainer Billy Nelson was happy to see the chemistry that his boxer has formed with the Ukrainian and the extra benefits their combination has brought to the Usyk camp ahead of the all-important bout against Joshua and his titles: the World Boxing Organisation (WBO), World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) titles.
The world heavyweight title fight between Joshua and Usyk is scheduled for Saturday, September 25 and although the Ukrainian is the mandatory challenger for the WBO belt, the stakes are as high as they can ever be because all three of Joshua’s heavyweights belts will be on the line in the make or mar fight.
Usyk’s coaching crew know how much is at stake and are not leaving anything to chance. They are preparing the 34-year-old for what to expect and for the most extreme circumstances. That led to the decision to bring in a boxer of Bakole’s pedigree to imitate Joshua’s explosive skills in sparring with Usyk to put him in shape for their fight.
The advantage of involving Bakole is that having sparred numerous rounds with the WBA, IBF and WBO champion, Bakole is not only very familiar with Joshua’s boxing style but can offer Usyk so much in terms of keeping ahead of the Brit for victory.
Nelson, who is Bakole’s trainer, relished the opportunity of having his fighter spar with the challenger and revealed that they could not turn down an invite to trade punches with the former undisputed cruiserweight king. He said: “I was approached by Team Usyk at the beginning of August, or late July.
“Martin has been there for a week and a half and he’s got a further two and half weeks. Then he comes to Dubai on September 4 for his fight. He’s got an eight-round contest in Dubai on September 18.
“Usyk’s team have been super-impressed with Martin out there. They’ve actually asked him to stay on for a further week, including the four that he’s doing. That’s not possible due to the fight that he’s got here. Martin says he’s done particularly well in the spars that he’s had. Martin is very complimentary about Usyk. He says he’s very skilful. He’s not made any comparisons between the two [Usyk and Joshua].
“It’s just unfortunate that Usyk is a southpaw, or we could have been helping Anthony Joshua. It’s just one of those things. But when top-quality sparring comes up, Martin is not in a position to refuse it, because he’s been inactive and he needs the sparring for his upcoming fight.”
The trainer was convinced that picking Bakole as Usyk’s sparring partner was the most ideal form of preparation for Joshua as he shared a similar stature and the well-schooled skills that Joshua will be bringing to the bout in September and for which the Ukrainian will now be ready.
He continued: “One hundred per cent it’s a wise move by Usyk’s people to use Martin Bakole as a sparring partner, because he’s got a fantastic jab,” said Nelson. Same height, good reach, and he’s got a very good skillset himself. Very wise move by Usyk’s people indeed.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
