Anthony Joshua’s return to boxing could be announced in the coming weeks with Martin Bakole fancying his chances.
It comes after Tyson Fury made the shock decision to retire earlier this year, throwing AJ’s plans out the window.
A brutal all-British bout was planned to finally go ahead this summer after years of trading barbs with one another.
But Fury’s retirement has led to Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn scrambling for a replacement fighter – and Barkole could be the man.
Anthony Joshua might find himself in a ring far from home in his next fight
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However, such a fight might take place in the 31-year-old’s home nation of Congo.
Speaking to BetFred, Bakole insisted: “I think it will happen because the guy who can make the fight happen has said it’s going to happen.
“So all I’m doing now is working hard to clean up [Efe] Ajagba and go beat the winner of Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker and then going to fight AJ.
“I think it’s going to happen in the Congo.”
Bakole has a brilliant record as a heavyweight boxer and even appeared on Joshua’s undercard when AJ beat Kubrat Pulev in December 2020.
On that night, the African fighter beat Sergey Kuzmin by unanimous decision, while he also beat Carlos Takam by technical knockout on Fury’s undercard when he fought Francis Ngannou.
Joshua, meanwhile, is looking to repair his reputation after two defeats to Oleksandr Usyk and a bruising loss to Daniel Dubois.
After Usyk dismantled AJ twice, he went on to beat Fury two times as well to firmly put himself up as the best heavyweight on the planet.
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Martin Bakole has high hopes of fighting Anthony Joshua next
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But Bakole has other ideas and has grand plans to unify the division, adding: “I would love to fight Oleksandr Usyk for unification.
“That’s a beautiful fight because I would knock him out, nice and cool. Nobody would stand before me without going down.”
Whether a fight against Bakole goes ahead, AJ’s promoter Hearn has already insisted his fighter will take part in two bouts this year.
Without Fury, several other names have been thrown forward including Deontay Wilder, Jarrell Miller or even a rematch against Dubois.