British boxer calls out Deontay Wilder and Dillian Whyte after battering ‘Ukrainian Hulk’ | Boxing | Sport

British boxer Martin Bakole has called out Deontay Wilder and Dillian Whyte after battering ‘Ukrainian Hulk’ Ihor Shevadzutskyi on Saturday night. Bakole overcame the previously undefeated Shevadzutskyi in three rounds at the G2A Arena in Poland.

“I made a big statement,” Bakole told Sky Sports after the fight. “I was the first guy to stop [Shevadzutskyi]. I want Dillian Whyte, Daniel Dubois, Oleksandr Usyk. Why not [Oleksandr] Usyk? Why not Deontay Wilder? I call people out because I know I can stop them.”

Meanwhile, BOXXER Founder and chief executive Ben Shalom added: “Everyone in boxing knows how good this guy is and now we need to make sure he gets to mandatory so that people can’t keep avoiding him. He’s ready for the big fights and for me Deontay Wilder is the fight he should be getting next.

“If Usyk is facing Dubois next then the thing that makes sense according to the WBA rankings I think would be Bakole against Deontay Wilder. And we’re also interested in Dillian Whyte or Daniel Dubois.”

Bakole’s latest fight came as part of the undercard for Alen Babic’s bout with Lukasz Rozanski in Rzeszow. The 29-year-old, who is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, came under pressure in the first round as Shevadzutskyi caught him off guard to land a series of punches.

But Bakole began to dominate in the second round as Hulk’s heavy footwork left him exposed. Shevadzutskyi was knocked to the canvas by a thumping left hook and struggled to contain Bakole as the Briton pummelled his opponent.

Shevadzutskyi made it to the third round but was unable to turn the tide as Bakole continued to land devastating punches on the Ukrainian. And after a final right hook 45 seconds into the third round, the referee jumped in to end the bout.

Away from the ring, Bakole incredibly almost came to blows with Whyte on Saturday night after the duo were involved in a furious exchange, with the incident captured by the IFL TV cameras. After Bakole had approached his fellow Briton and asked for a fight, Whyte shouted: “Don’t talk to me, bro.”

As the pair were kept apart by their respective entourages, Bakole hissed: “Shut up motherf***er.” Whyte then walked upstairs and replied: “Come upstairs if you want to fight,” before calling Bakole a “b****.” And Bakole hit back: “Let’s make a fight you bum. I’ll knock you out cold – just say yes to the fight. F*** you, m*****f***er.”