Anthony Joshua has taken shots from huge heavyweight hitters, risen from the canvas and only been stopped once in his 31-fight professional career.

The two-time champion from Watford is much more accustomed to dishing out the punishment rather than taking it, and he flew through his 18 fights without going by the seventh round.

Then came a unification bout against Wladimir Klitschko, who dropped the Brit for the first time. ‘AJ’ fought through the fire and added another stoppage to his record, this time in the eleventh.

It would be Andy Ruiz Jr who could hurt Joshua enough to stop him, doing so in 2019 to win the unified heavyweight titles in a shock upset. Joshua would box smart in the immediate rematch to win the belts back but go on to lose them to Oleksandr Usyk.

In his 24 rounds with the Ukrainian he took plenty of shots but stayed standing to lose on points on both occasions.

Despite most in the sport agreeing that sparring should not be judged as pro contests are, and that what happens in the gym should stay there, WBA top-ranked heavyweight Martin Bakole says you can count him on the list of people to hurt ‘AJ.’

In an interview with TalkSPORT, Bakole elaborated on his previous claims that he ‘smashed’ the 34-year-old.

“Ask anyone about me. Go ask Daniel Dubois about me, ask Joshua about me, ask Usyk about me, ask Tyson Fury about me, they will keep quiet. Nobody will say they gave me a hard time.

I gave them all a hard time. I stopped Daniel Dubois twice, stopped Joe Joyce and Joshua oh, that was a big one, he was hurt that day.”

Bakole says he stopped Joe Joyce and Oleksandr Usyk in sparring sessions, too. He claims to have done the same to Daniel Dubois, recently elevated IBF World Champion and the man Joshua faces on September 21.

Bakole returns to the ring on August 3 to face unbeaten rising star Jared Anderson.