ANTHONY JOSHUA has been called out to “Rumble in the Jungle II” in Nigeria.
Muhammad Ali famously defeated George Foreman in 1974 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – then known as Zaire.
Anthony Joshua has been called out to ‘Rumble in the Jungle II’ in Nigeria[/caption]
Up to ONE BILLION fans are believed to have tuned in – making it the most historic fight of all time.
But despite the magnitude, heavyweight boxing has never returned to Africa in such a capacity.
Shows have recently been promoted in Ghana and Nigeria – where Joshua’s parents were born.
Promoter Dr Ezekiel Adamu – who worked with Amir Khan on a show in Lagos – wants to bring AJ over to fight in Nigeria.
And Martin Bakole of Congo – who used to be a regular sparring partner of Joshua’s – is ready to be the opponent.
Bakole, 32, told Sky Sports: “I’d take the fight with Anthony Joshua in a heartbeat.
“We are both African fighters, and now we’re seeing boxing come back to Africa. Anthony Joshua doesn’t want to fight me.
“He knows what happened in sparring. If we get in the ring I’m going to knock him out. Without doubt.
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“I’ll even knock him out in Nigeria, in front of his own crowd. This is the fight to make. And we need to make it in Africa.
“It’ll be the Rumble in the Jungle II.”
Adamu says he is in talks with Joshua’s camp for a fight in Nigeria.
He revealed: “We’ve had a preliminary conversation and we’ll keep going. We’re looking at Q1 next year.
“We all know AJ’s always said he wants to fight in Africa before the end of his career and we believe Nigeria is actually the best story.
“Nigeria has the highest population in the whole of Africa, about 250 million people.
“Nigeria is the economic capital of the whole of Africa. The list goes on and on. We believe that we are actually poised to make that happen.”
Joshua, 35, is yet to return since being knocked out by Daniel Dubois, 28, in September 2024.
But after recovering from elbow surgery in the summer, promoter Eddie Hearn revealed AJ is looking to get back into training camp.
They plan for a comeback bout before eyeing a super-fight with Tyson Fury, 37, next year.
Hearn has said up to ten names are in consideration for Joshua’s comeback bout – which could come in Africa.
And Adamu has named Bakole as a potential opponent, saying: “He is an option.
“There’s a lot of options being thrown at us for this particular fight but – yes – Martin Bakole is here.
“We have a lot of options that we’ll be looking at and we believe that we’ll come up with something really exciting that will excite the whole world and obviously bring proper excitement to Africa as well, especially Nigeria.”
