Joshua’s Stare Down: Is He Intimidated By Bakole Or Hiding Fear?

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

Staredown In London

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

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

If a fight with Bakole were to happen, it would be in 2026 under ideal circumstances. That 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 likely beyond what he’s capable of doing due to his age and weak punch resistance.

Turki’s Test

“As I want to see it, but you need to be sure they are focusing, and they still have it,” said Turki Al-Shiekh on Carl Froch’s YouTube channel when asked if he wants to see Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury in 2025.

“We must now have it normal to lose some fights in boxing. All the fighters want to focus to the career of Mayweather with zero losses. This can happen each 50, 60, 70 years one time. We  need the UFC model now. The champions are losing and winning,” said Turki, reacting to being told by Froch that Fury gets depressed and is moody. Froch says Fury deals with losing to Oleksandr Usyk a second time.

Turki Al-Shiekh’s tone suggests that he wants Joshua and Fury to win before he sets up a fight. How else can he find out if they “still have it?” He can’t do that by looking into their eyes, talking to them, or watching them hit the mitts. They’ve got to fight someone good.

The best way to do that would be for Joshua to fight Bakole and Fury to battle Dubois. If the old warriors pass those tests, then you can say that they “still have it,” and it’s worth it for Turki to finance a fight between them.




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