Billy Nelson Says Bakole Will 'Smash Dubois to Bits' Over Old Flaws

Daniel Dubois holds the WBO heavyweight title and a 23-3 (22 KO) record, and he's coming off a demolition job — a second-round stoppage of Fabio Wardley in their rematch after flooring him inside the opening 17 seconds. But not everyone's buying the idea that the 29-year-old is about to run the division. Billy Nelson, head coach of Martin Bakole, says his man would take Dubois apart.

Nelson told The Fight Wire that a fit Bakole would always get the better of Dubois, going so far as to say the Congolese heavyweight would smash him to bits. His reasoning leans on history: Nelson says the same defensive frailties he watched in sparring at the Peacock Gym years ago were still there in Dubois' first fight with Wardley.

The Case Against Dubois

The skepticism isn't baseless. Dubois lost his IBF belt to Oleksandr Usyk via fifth-round stoppage in July 2025, and he's been floored more than once — including against Kevin Lerena in 2022. Even the Wardley rematch win came after a first encounter where Dubois had to survive two knockdowns before stopping Wardley in the 11th. There's power there, clearly. There's also a chin that keeps getting questioned.

The Problem With Bakole's Pitch

Here's the catch. Bakole, 33, hasn't fought since a draw with Efe Ajagba in May 2025 — and Ajagba currently sits at #8 in the division with a 21-1-1 (14 KO) record. Before that draw, Bakole was stopped in two rounds by Joseph Parker, though he took that one on roughly two days' notice. Earlier, he'd scored a fifth-round finish over Jared Anderson, so the talent is real. The activity isn't.

Nelson says Bakole plans to return early next year, which is the first thing that needs to happen before any of this talk means anything. Wardley, now #4 at 20-1-1 (19 KO), already found out what Dubois does to opponents who stay in the pocket. Bakole's coach is confident his fighter is built differently. Fair enough — but confidence from the corner is cheap until the man himself laces up after nearly a year out.