A HEAVYWEIGHT showdown between Deontay Wilder and Martin Bakole ‘has to happen’, according to promoter Ben Shalom.

Bakole drew a line under nearly a year out of the ring on Saturday night by stopping Ihor Shevadzutskyi in three rounds in Poland.

Now the 29-year-old is desperate to secure a major fight and is hoping his new link up with Boxxer and Sky Sports will help to deliver that.

Now Boxxer chief Shalom says he wants to make a fight between the Congolese heavyweight and Alabama superstar Wilder, the former WBC champion, next.

He told Sky Sport: “Martin’s No.2 with the WBA, he makes no mistakes with who he wants to fight and it’s up to us to deliver it now.

“The obvious route is the WBA and we have Daniel Dubois about to be ordered to face Oleksandr Usyk for the world heavyweight. That should go to purse bids soon.

“That leaves No.1 and No.2 - Deontay Wilder against Martin Bakole, either for the interim or a final eliminator. It has to happen.

“Wilder has been put up there and he’s not even been active. But Martin Bakole, after just winning, will be onto the WBA on Monday.

“But he’s a victim of himself, he’s so good that others don’t want to fight him. For me Deontay Wilder is the fight he should be getting next.”

Shalom also revealed that he received a message from Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk immediately after Bakole’s destructive performance against Shevadzutskyi.

He added: “Alex Krassyuk just messaged me after that saying Martin Bakole beats Anthony Joshua and Martin Bakole beats Wilder and I think everyone in boxing knows how good this guy is.

“You never know how a fighter is going to come back when he has been out of the ring for a year but it was business as usual. It showed how powerful he is.

“Now we can move on with Martin Bakole, he wants the big fights and big nights, that’s why he’s come to us.”