Oleksandr Usyk has received a warning from a former sparring partner as the undisputed heavyweight champion prepares for his Tyson Fury trilogy.
The fighter rewrote the history books earlier this month when he dropped Daniel Dubois in the fifth round to reclaim his undisputed status.
Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, and Dubois have all failed to beat the Ukrainian southpaw in their combined six attempts.
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However, one man thinks he can, Usky's former sparring partner Martin Bakole.
He revealed: “To be honest, Usyk knows himself, every time I go there to spar him I always give him trouble.
Martin Baloke believes he causes Oleksadnr Usyk trouble
|PA
"They only give me two rounds. That two rounds is hell. He knows.
"When I was sparring the first time, I was giving him a hard time, he starts shouting, went mad, jumped out of the ring, started shouting at his coach,” he continued.
"I never said this before but ask his team, they know, he was bleeding everywhere. And that was the first time.
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“They called me again in Dubai, and I only did two rounds. But in that two rounds, he was in trouble,” he told Seconds Out.
Bakole is seen as the boogie man of the heavyweight division. He has struggled to rack up wins despite his big talk about Usyk. He was brutally knocked out in his short-notice showdown with Joseph Parker in February, and earned a draw against Efe Ajagba in May.
Martin Bakole claims he left Oleksandr Usyk bleeding after a sparring session
|That did not stop the 32-year-old revealing all after Usyk tried to downplay the spars: “He was over my shoulder saying, 'Hey that was sparring.'
"No, he got knocked out,” he affirmed.
“Even though I stopped him there is no story to tell. It’s true.
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"I tell you I beat him like a baby, he was out of the ring, his coach was asking what to do, and he couldn’t do it.
"They started speaking Ukrainian and I kept standing in the ring, he got out, then about three or four minutes he came back again.
Tyson Fury will face Oleksandr Usyk for the third time next year
|PA
“Usyk, I always say this, people say I’m crazy, but the only man who can stop Usyk right now is Martin Bakole,” he concluded.
It remains to be seen if Bakole will get a shot at the heavyweight belts, but the 32-year-old may be forced to eat his words should Fury manage to beat Usyk when they face off for their trilogy fight on April 18 next year.