Oleksandr Usyk cemented himself as the greatest heavyweight of this generation with a second victory over Tyson Fury last month.
The 37-year-old from Ukraine boasts impressive wins against Fury, Anthony Joshua and Danial Dubois at heavyweight where he became undisputed champion last May in a thrilling contest with ‘The Gypsy King’.
Despite sharing the ring with a number of heavy handed opponents, Usyk is yet to find himself in any danger and has not been visibly hurt in any of his 23 professional outings.
One fighter who has revealed on more than one occasion that he has hurt the Ukrainian superstar is highly rated contender Martin Bakole.
Bakole, who has suffered just one loss in his career, believes he is the most avoided fighter in the world, with a number of heavyweights supposedly turning down opportunities to fight him.
The 31-year-old secured the best win of his career last August when he knocked out American prospect Jared Anderson in the fifth round of their bout in Los Angeles.
Speaking to talkSport, Bakole revealed details of a sparring session with Usyk, where he claims he ‘knocked out’ the pound-for-pound star.
“I don’t lie, I don’t like to lie. I always tell the truth. If you watch BOXXER’s video you will see. I was live on Sky Sports and Oleksandr Usyk’s manager came behind me and said ‘This guy is going to be world champion tomorrow’ because he knows, who I am, he was in the gym when I gave Usyk a hard time.”
Usyk never even touched me, I smashed him and knocked him out. I knocked him out with a body shot. I was getting out of the ring and they said he will need one week to recover.”
Bakole is expected to face fellow African Efe Ajagba in an IBF final eliminator in the coming months.
