An Anthony Joshua fight has quickly become one the biggest fights in boxing and we have one this Saturday. The unified heavyweight titleholder will be defending his two belts against game Cameroonian Carlos Takam who took the fight on just shy of two week’s notice after original mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev had to pull out due to injury.
Anthony Joshua’s (19-0, 19 KOs) story is well known here as he goes for his twentieth professional victory on Saturday. Born from recent Nigerian immigrants and having spent part of his youth in Nigeria, Joshua rose to prominence in the British amateur system after moving back the UK as he was about to become a teenager. He didn’t start in the sport until he was already eighteen, but it didn’t matter.
Joshua rose fast through the amateur system and won Olympic gold in only his 42nd amateur bout. After that he signed with Eddie Hearn and has had the professional career that you have been following ever since. In his sixteenth fight, the British star was handed an easy belt against overmatched American regional level fighter Charles Martin and quickly dispatched of him. After two mid level defenses, Anthony Joshua cemented his status as an elite fighter and picked up his second belt in April.
That win over living legend Wladimir Klitschko catapulted Joshua’s already sizable stardom to new heights. It didn’t hurt that it was quite the compelling fight with both men hurt and down even before the eleventh round finish. He showed heart and late fight stamina that he hadn’t needed to show before in that contest as well. I think he will need both of those things on at least a minor level on Saturday.
Carlos Takam (35-3-1, 27 KOs) is a good fighter. Even though counter intuitively I believe that original opponent Kubrat Pulev would beat Takam head to head, I actually think Takam is a stiffer test than Pulev for Anthony Joshua. We have seen the Bulgarian fold at the sport’s highest level before and that is more or less what I expected him to do here when Joshua started putting pressure on. Carlos Takam doesn’t fold.
Trying to figure out the Cameroonian’s chances is best done by examining his career losses. We can dismiss the early career, 2009 loss as irrelevant, but he has dropped fights to both Alexander Povetkin and Joseph Parker in recent years. First he lost to Povetkin in Russia in 2014 by tenth round stoppage, but he definitely exceeded expectations in that fight. The Russian is widely considered one of the best heavyweights in the world and Takam was his equal that night until the finish.
Takam was also more or less Joseph Parker’s equal in 2016. That was a close, grueling fight that was somewhat difficult to score, though I had no problem with the verdict for Parker in the end. Again, it was the last few rounds that did Saturday’s challenger in. Parker’s youth carried the day as he nicked the last few rounds when Takam seemed to take his foot off the gas. Neither top fighter was able to control him until the late rounds.
I figure this fight will follow that trend. I don’t think Carlos Takam can be blown out super early, but he has shown a difficulty finishing strong and he is also coming in here on only thirteen days notice. Factoring in Joshua’s power, Takam’s short notice for training, and both of their typical fight patterns, I think Joshua gets rid of him earlier than others have with a stoppage around round seven or eight. I wouldn’t be shocked if Takam does some good work early and say leaves the fourth round even two rounds to two, but I can’t see him winning without landing something huge. These are heavyweights and that could happen, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Showtime will have the call in the United States with a 5 PM Eastern start time to show only the main event. This fight is a Sky PPV in the UK, of course, and therefore will have a full undercard. Two decent fights in Khalid Yafai’s (22-0, 14 KOs) WBA super flyweight title defense against Sho Ishida (24-0, 13 KOs) and popular domestic heavyweight Dillian Whyte’s (21-1, 16 KOs) battle against solid European foe Robert Helenius (25-1, 16 KOs) make up the important fights on the undercard.
Frank Bulglioni defends his British light heavyweight title as well while prominent prospects Joshua Buatsi, Joe Cordina, and Lawrence Okolie will also be in action. 1 PM Eastern marks the start of that show for Americans looking to catch a stream.
