Martin Bakole has been offered assistance in an attempt to line up his next fight.
A heavyweight title eliminator between Bakole and Cassius Chaney was ordered by the WBA on Monday. The two sides will have 30 days to negotiate terms for a fight that will determine the mandatory challenger position, though the sanctioning body failed to clarify for which title.
Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14KOs) holds the WBA ‘Super’ title, along with the IBF and WBO belts which are stake in his February 17 undisputed heavyweight championship versus lineal and WBC champ Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24KOs). Mahmoud Charr was reinstated as the WBA ‘Regular’ title holder and will next defend versus Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev in March.
Bakole and Chaney each racked up notable stoppage wins in their most recent bouts.
An oversized version of Bakole was still far too much for Carlos Takam, whom he stopped inside of four rounds.
Bakole accepted the fight on short notice, which attributed to his entering their October 28 bout at a career-heaviest 299.4 pounds. He overwhelmed Takam, a former title challenger who was battered and stopped on his feet in the fourth round of a preliminary bout on the undercard of Fury’s win over Francis Ngannou in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The win was the ninth in a row for Bakole since an October 2018 tenth-round stoppage to Michael Hunter. The 30-year-old Congolese heavyweight—now based in Scotland—also owns a win over 2016 Olympic Gold medalist Tony Yoka, who was unbeaten prior to being soundly outpointed in their May 2022 meeting in Paris.
Chaney (23-1, 16KOs) breathed new life into his career after a stunning seventh-round knockout of former WBA ‘Regular’ titlist Trevor Bryan. Their November 4 heavyweight clash in Miami, Florida saw Chaney drop Bryan in rounds two and seven, the latter which produced the end of the fight after which Bryan was taken out of the ring on a stretcher and rushed to the hospital.
The win was the second straight for the 36-year-old Baltimore-born heavyweight since an upset ten-round, split decision defeat to George Arias in their December 2021 battle of unbeaten prospects in New York City.
Should the two sides fail to reach terms, the ordered fight will head to a purse bid hearing where both will receive an even 50 percent split.
By Jake Donovan