Anthony Joshua was clearly the better fighter against Carlos Takam, but he was taken into the later rounds, and the 10th round stoppage was a questionable one. Nonetheless, Joshua remained unbeaten and kept his KO percentage perfect, retaining his WBA and IBF heavyweight titles in Cardiff, Wales.
Joshua (20-0, 20 KO) stopped Takam at 1:34 of the 10th round, when the referee stepped in.
Takam (35-4-1, 27 KO) was as tough and tricky as advertised. He went down in the fourth round, when he ate a left hook from Joshua that put Takam’s glove on the canvas, but the round ended before Joshua could really follow up.
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That might have been the most trouble Takam was ever really in in the fight. If nothing else, today’s bout showed a few things Joshua needs to work on. He didn’t cut off the ring well at all, as Takam moved around stayed away from Joshua, largely taking away the defending champion’s best punch, his uppercut.
But Joshua was patient and did his job, jabbing away when he could, mixing in power shots when he could. Takam is a good fighter, a smart fighter, and while he was never truly in this fight, he also wasn’t completely overwhelmed by Joshua, and he made AJ work a lot harder than most opponents have to date. But it’s important to remember that Takam is, in fact, a good fighter.
What did you think of the stoppage and Joshua’s performance ? Comments below.
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The fight started with an introduction, Anthony Joshua stepped out with Wizkid’s Ojuelegba song as an intro. Amongst the supporting crowd were the likes of Nigerian sport minister.
Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung was in the UK last night to show support to Nigerian-British heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, as he defended his title in a fight withCarlos Takam. Posting the photos on social media, the Minister wrote “I posed for a photograph with IBF Heavyweight Champion Anthony Joshua and the Deputy Governor of Ogun State Her Excellency Mrs Yetunde Onanuga after the fight in Principality Stadium Cardiff, UK”.
Anthony Joshua successfully defended his world title through a technical knockout against Carlos Takam in Cardiff
The fight was stopped in round 10 after Joshua gave challenger Takam a deep cut above the eye.
Takam has since requested for a rematch, blaming the refree for ending the bout’prematurely.
