Martin Bakole will prove that he is “capable of beating anyone in the heavyweight division” by stopping Tony Yoka, his trainer Billy Nelson said.

Bakole has accepted an offer to fight Yoka in France in December, according to Nelson.

“We are just waiting on confirmation,” he told Sky Sports.

“We want a breakthrough fight for Martin.”

DR Congo-born and Scotland-based Bakole has won 17 of his 18 fights, and in the shape of the undefeated Yoka who won the 2016 Olympic gold medal, he may have found a fight to propel himself towards the top of the division.

Nelson insisted Bakole had no hesitation to accept a fight with Yoka: “None whatsoever.

“Martin will go over there and knock him out, I believe.

“I do genuinely believe Martin is capable of beating anyone in the heavyweight division.

“We don’t care where it is, although it will be harder in France.

“Yoka is a big, strong guy. The bigger the better for Martin, who sees it as a challenge.

“Martin has more speed. Yoka is technically very good but he still boxes like an amateur – he has stated that [learning a pro style] is what he’s learning from Virgil Hunter, who is a great trainer.

“Martin is much better than anyone he has fought.”

Nelson said that a victory over Yoka would insert Bakole into the world title picture: “Let’s be perfectly honest – it would supersede anything that Joe Joyce or Daniel Dubois has done.

“Martin would beat both of those quite comfortably.

“We would fight Filip Hrgovic in a heartbeat too. He is an easier fight than Yoka because he doesn’t have the speed or skill that Martin has. Hrgovic is very strong but Martin would beat him.

“Someone asked me: ‘Why don’t you fight Alen Babic?’

“Because it would be a mismatch of epic proportions! I would be disappointed if that fight saw the fourth round.”

Bakole was used as one of Oleksandr Usyk’s main sparring partners before the Ukrainian won the IBF, WBA and WBO titles from Anthony Joshua.

“A representative of Usyk’s team told us that Martin is definitely capable of being a world champion,” Nelson said. “They were very complimentary.

“It went brilliantly for Martin.

“Martin’s brother is Ilunga Makabu [the current WBC cruiserweight champion]. It’s who Martin learned to box from. He sparred every day for a year with his brother so he doesn’t have a problem with southpaws.”

Sky Sports Boxing schedule

November 6 – Top Rank in Las Vegas
Mikaela Mayer vs Maiva Hamadouche – IBF and WBO super-featherweight titles

November 6 – BOXXER in Liverpool
Super-lightweight tournament

November 20 – BOXXER in London
Richard Riakporhe vs Olanrewaju Durodola
Caroline Dubois professional debut
Florian Marku
Hosea Burton vs Dan Azziz – British light-heavyweight title

November 20 – Top Rank in Las Vegas
Terence Crawford vs Shawn Porter – WBO welterweight title

December 11 – BOXXER
Savannah Marshall
Claressa Shields

December 11 – Top Rank in Las Vegas
Vasiliy Lomachenko vs Richard Commey

December 17 – Top Rank in Montreal
Artur Beterbiev vs Marcus Browne – IBF and WBC light-heavyweight titles

February 26 – Top Rank in Glasgow
Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall – undisputed super-lightweight title