Following back-to-back losses in Saudi Arabia, Deontay Wilder has said he will fight on.
Many felt the 39-year-old from Alabama was set to retire after the second loss – a knockout at the hands of Zhilei Zhang – which followed on from a near shutout points defeat to Joseph Parker.
Another name in the mix at that time was Martin Bakole, who missed out on the Wilder fight but instead put his name on the map by demolishing hot prospect Jared Anderson in August.
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Speaking to IFL TV at the time, Bakole criticised Wilder for avoiding him and made it clear exactly what he intended to do had the fight been signed.
“Wilder avoided me. He [chose] not to fight me and pick Joseph Parker … I would knock him out in the first round. I was going to knock him out cold.
He’s small. Everyone knows he was aggressive but we saw him playing in the ring and [not able to] engage the fight. I was going to stop him. Parker gave him time to survive, but I was not going to give him time to survive.”
In a more recent video, the big-hitting Congolese heavyweight said it would be an ‘easy finish’ for him were they to face off.
Bakole – who has been named as the ‘future heavyweight king’ by Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk – will face Efe Ajagbe for the IBF mandatory slot in May. Should he win, he will be called to challenge the winner of champion Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker later this month.
As such, a Wilder fight seems a long way off, perhaps never to happen, but if the American does indeed want to have one final crack at the top level, these are the names he will be met with when he gets there.
Wilder’s comeback plans recently took a hit in the form of a scrapped fight with journeyman Curtis Harper, reportedly due to a financial dispute with promotional outfit BLK Prime.
