After well over a year of inactivity, heavyweight contender Martin Bakole has finally booked his next fight.
Once known as the boogeyman of the division, Bakole climbed the heavyweight rankings with impressive wins over Carlos Takam and Jared Anderson in 2023 and 2024 respectively.
In 2025, he was set for an IBF final eliminator against Efe Ajagbe, but the opportunity arose to fight Joseph Parker in Saudi Arabia when Daniel Dubois pulled out due to illness just days out from the event.
Bakole flew in on extremely short notice and was stopped inside two rounds by former world champion Parker. He still faced Ajagba three months later, but could only muster a draw in the bout, which was no longer an eliminator due to the Parker defeat.
The 33-year-old has been inactive ever since, with some promotional frustrations voiced during that time. Despite the underwhelming run of form mentioned above, many fans and analysts feel that Bakole could still present a major problem for the top heavyweights now, especially considered the belts have been scattered after Oleksandr Usyk’s reign.
Bakole now looks to return and capitalise on that, and he will begin with a fight on the biggest event of the year in Cardiff. On the undercard of Tyson Fury’s long-awaited showdown with Anthony Joshua, the Congolese power-puncher will face Solomon Adebayo.
Adebayo is undefeated in 15, though has not fought anywhere near the level of Bakole. He is still booked for a fight this month before the December 11 card, though that will likely not go ahead.
Bakole will be expected to win, but fans will have a close eye on his physique and fitness after such a long period out of the ring.
Including the main event, this fight is one of four heavyweight clashes on the card. Deontay Wilder is welcoming two-time cruiserweight world champion Jai Opetaia to the division, and America’s heavyweight hope Da’Mazion Vanhouter takes on Michael Essomba.
