Martin Bakole is ahead of Anthony Joshua at the “front of the queue” for a shot at Daniel Dubois’ IBF heavyweight world championship.
Dubois scored a stunning victory when he knocked out Joshua, a former unified titlist, at Wembley Stadium last year.
Next Dubois will be making a voluntary defence of the IBF belt against New Zealand's in-form Joseph Parker on Saturday February 22, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
After that Dubois will have to either contest a world championship unification or make a mandatory defence of the belt.
Bakole will box Efe Ajagba in May in order to become the mandatory challenger for the IBF title.
Ben Shalom, Bakole's promoter, told Sky Sports: "Martin can't be avoided any longer. If he beats Efe Ajaba in May, he will be mandatory challenger to fight for the IBF world title, and we will be looking to enforce that mandatory immediately. He will be front of the queue and that fight will have to happen."
He added: "Martin is the most feared man in the heavyweight division and with good reason. He will be keeping a close eye on the Dubois-Parker fight, and whatever the outcome, I know Martin will be confident of taking the title when his time comes."
AJ's promoter Eddie Hearn would like Joshua to be in contention to face the Dubois-Parker victor.
"If it's not Fury, it's just the world heavyweight championship. It's Daniel Dubois against Joseph Parker," Hearn previously told Sky Sports.
"AJ's going to fight again regardless of who he fights. I think he didn't take the defeat well, which is good. You should never take defeat well. But particularly over the last couple of weeks, he's got his mojo back. He's ready to start training camp."
Hearn continued: "But the focus was always Tyson Fury and the Daniel Dubois rematch. I'm not so sure Daniel Dubois beats Joseph Parker. You've got the winner of that fight or somebody else.
"Really at this stage of your career you want the biggest fights and you want to try and become three-time world heavyweight champion."
Warren: Joshua must win a fight
Though Dubois' promoter Frank Warren points out that if Joshua wants to put himself in a position to challenge the February 22 winner he needs to make himself eligible. First AJ has "got to go and win a fight," Warren told Sky Sports.
Joshua won't get sanctioned for an IBF world title fight straight off the back of a defeat. Warren explained: "They aren't going to allow him to do that. The IBF won't allow that."
If Dubois beats Parker, Warren will also explore a potential rematch with Oleksandr Usyk in a unification of all four of the major heavyweight world titles.
Warren believes that by the end of this year it will be Dubois, not Usyk, who is the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
"If he comes through this, and fights Usyk," Warren said of Dubois, "I do think [he will be]."
AJ's route back?
There is another route back to world level contention though for Anthony Joshua.
On the February 22 Sky Sports Box Office undercard, Zhilei Zhang fights Agit Kabayel for the WBC Interim heavyweight title. The Interim titlist would be in prime position for a mandatory challenge against Oleksandr Usyk, who holds the WBC as well as the WBA and WBO world championships.
But both Kabayel and Zhang would welcome a contest with Anthony Joshua, while they waited for that shot at Usyk.
"I'm ready, let's go," Kabayel told Sky Sports. "Everything is interesting. I'm the fighter.
"I'm a sportsman. I will only fight. It is what it is."
Zhang is especially eager to box Joshua. The Chinese heavyweight lost to AJ at the London Olympics in 2012 when they were amateurs and today, all these years later, he still wants revenge.
"Everything is possible. The AJ fight is possible," Zhang told Sky Sports, "but right now I just want to pay attention to Kabayel.
"February 22 has my whole focus. I'll think about who's next after I beat him."
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