'I SMASHED ANTHONY JOSHUA IN SPARRING - NOW HE DOESN'T WANT TO FIGHT ME'

Anthony Joshua may be one of the most feared heavyweight boxers in the last decade, with ferocious speed and punch power, but one contender believes 'AJ' is scared to fight him after a gruelling sparring session.

Joshua is set to face off against fellow Brit Daniel Dubois later this year at Wembley Stadium, as he continues his quest to retain the world titles he lost to Oleksandr Usyk. 'AJ' is on a four-fight winning streak and has finished his last three opponents - two knockouts and a forced retirement against Otto Wallin.

In his heyday, Joshua was seen as one of the biggest punchers in the division, with his single-punch knockout power only rivalled by that of Deontay Wilder. But regardless of his reputation in the heavyweight division, contender Martin Bakole believes he'll be unable to secure a fight against Joshua because of a previous sparring session.

Speaking to iFL TV, Bakole explained he's faced both Dubois and Joshua in the gym, and beat them both so badly they are both too scared to fight him.

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He explained: "I didn't just spar them, I smashed them. I destroyed them in the gym. That's the reason why they don't want to fight me. That's a good fight, a 50-50 for me, they don't have a boxing brain but they are strong and can box but no boxing brain like Martin Bakole. Good luck to both but I would smash them."

Bakole isn't the only fighter with strong words for Joshua, as WBC Bridgerweight champion Lawrence Okolie warned the former IBF champion he'll have a tough time against Dubois if he doesn't get a stoppage win early. Speaking to Seconds Out, Okolie gave his view on the fight and explained why he feels Joshua could be caught out.

"Yeah they're both good fights in different ways. Dan is a heavy puncher, really good fundamentals and slugs it out the way he did in that last fight and then 'AJ', accomplished, and able to do a bunch of different things in the ring, so both are great fighters. It will be a sensational match-up, edge-of-your-seat stuff 'cause they both have the ability to stop the other one quite viscously."

"I think you would favour 'AJ' 'cause he is vastly experienced, got great speed and power, so he might be able to get the shot off quicker. If he gets a right hand off clean he can put anyone out. The problem is if he doesn't get him out of there straight away Dubois is always punching. We saw it against Usyk, Miller, Hrgovic, one thing he will do is bite down and keep going so it's up to 'AJ' to get him under manners early and dominate or it will be a really hard fight."

2024-06-15T11:27:58Z dg43tfdfdgfd