Is Bakole the new Joy Joyce?

He's certainly faster. He's also almost a full decade (8 years) younger.

 

Never rated Bakole that highly if I am honest. I picked Hunter to beat him when they fought and while I think he's improved a little he's still got some serious holes in his game. He's easy to hit, he's a plodder, he's the size of a tank with the gas tank of a Citroen 2CV.

Fact is he's only beat a 42 year old Takam, a hype job in Yoka who has lost to journeymen like Merhy and another hype job in Anderson. I said before he beat Anderson that if he beat him he still wouldn't be in my top 10 and he isn't.

I doubt he could beat Parker who Joyce beat and he'd probably get pole axed against Zhang and he might not even beat Chisora because he has a worse gas tank than even Chisora. So no he's not the new Joyce because he probably isn't as good as Joyce.

 

Would you pick Hunter to beat him next? Because that fight might happen. People toss around 'Hunter beat Bakole' like that would still be the case.

Hunter beat Jerry Forrest the first time they fought, too. Forrest beat him up in the rematch.

I'd take Bakole to walk right thru Hunter these days.

Bakole has twice as many fights now as he had then. And he's only getting better.

 

Probably not because Hunter seems to have lost any desire he once had. But if Hunter could get himself back into the shape and mindset of their first fight I would favour Hunter again.

 

... And if Bakole regressed and went back to being the fighter he was half his bouts ago?

Bakole stomps Hunter these days.

Bakole is on a roll. Some "rolls" you don't want to step in front of. He's embarrassing fighters.

It could come to an abrupt end, like Joyce's did. But, he has things going for him. Like he's only 31. Not approaching 40. That's a big one.

The biggest one, probably.

 

Bakole is better & sexier

 

I've been a Joyce fan for a long time, but Bakole is far more skilled. He can counter punch, is very fluid, knows some defense and is also a lot more powerful than Joyce. And obviously has much faster hands.

Bakole is actually quite crafty, the way he waits for openings to counter. His punches also come from weird angles which makes them hard to prepare for. He kept timing Anderson ducking into uppercuts. He doesn't just throw punches for the sake of throwing punches.

Joyce has a better gas tank and better foot speed, that's it.

 

Hunter is well past it I think, he doesn't look interested either

 

In one sense, yes...

Just like Joyce, Bakole beat a massively overhyped prospect - which massively improved the boards opinion of him way beyond what it should have done.

Joyce beat a very green version of Dubois - it's easy to forget that considering how much he's improved since... But that's what really propelled Joyce's hype - he was already being hyped as beating the best current fighters and certain ATG's efore he beat Parker (who fought totally the wrong fight, but has a great chin and was easily the highlight of Joyce's career) and far far more after green prospect Dubois than after beating a far more proven fighter in gatekeeper level Jennings.

Then you have Bakole - who beat massively overhyped prospect Anderson and suddenly becomes the forums latest darling.


There's loads of differences, but the one big similarity is they both fit right into Bubbles's law of hype:
"Beat a hypejob, become a hypejob".


These guys are/were decent fighters... Just not nearly what was claimed of them.

 

He's embarrassing some quite mediocre fighters and some decent but not top tier fighters.

On that basis, I agree he definitely would be strong favourite to beat Hunter in my book, too.


It's not enough to deserve some of the more gushing hype he's been getting lately, but it's respectable all the same.

 

Joyce's biggest problem is his age, and the fact he starting believing his own hype, losing his disciplined approach behind the jab in the process. Bakole is similarly a huge unit, with much faster hands, whilst also being younger with plenty of room for improvement. To give Joyce his due respects he has achieved much more in the pro ranks than Bakole, however I do think Bakole could equal or surpass Joyce in that regard.

 

Biggest roll I see Bakole on is around his waist....he's not there yet. Brighton bomber is probably right about his rating as of now. He needs a much better scalp and Zhang is the perfect one for him to go after, an old big guy who'll be there for him to hit. Of course the reverse is also true. Be interesting,,,,but as of now he's not on the radar for guys like Usyk , Fury, Joshua , Parker etc,,,,

 

No, his biggest problem is he is a terrible boxer.

 

There's always a new hype brand on the horizon coming out of the UK.
Joyce went down so here's the new one.
It's an endless production line.