Anthony Joshua vs. Carlos Takam

Challenger rankings

Org.	Pos.	As of	Published
1+ Mth. Old
WBA	NR	31.08.2017	31.08.2017
WBC	6	05.08.2017	by 18.08.2017
IBF	2	31.08.2017	28.08.2017
WBO	NR	11.08.2017	17.08-10.09.2017
Ring	NR	05.09.2017	by 08.09.2017
2+ Mth. Old
WBA	NR	15.07.2017	19.07.2017
WBC	7	01.07.2017	07-13.07.2017
IBF	2	31.07.2017	31.07.2017
WBO	NR	17.07.2017	14-25.07.2017
Ring	NR	01.05.2017	by 08.07.2017
3+ Mth. Old
WBA	NR	15.06.2017	17.06.2017
WBC	7	01.07.2017	07-13.07.2017
IBF	2	30.06.2017	28.06.2017
WBO	NR	17.06.2017	18.06-02.07.2017
Ring	NR	01.05.2017	by 08.07.2017

Anthony Joshua 254 lbs beat Carlos Takam 235 lbs by TKO at 1:34 in round 10 of 12

• Date: 2017-10-28
• Location: Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
• Referee: Phil Edwards
• Judge: Michael Alexander 89-81

  1 10 9	2 10 9	3 10 9	4 10 8	5 10 9	6 10 9	7  9 10	8 10 9	9 10 9

• Judge: Pawel Kardyni 89-81

  1 10 9	2 10 9	3 10 9	4 10 8	5 10 9	6 10 9	7 10 9	8 10 9	9  9 10

• Judge: Ron McNair 90-80

  1 10 9	2 10 9	3 10 9	4 10 8	5 10 9	6 10 9	7 10 9	8 10 9	9 10 9

• Promoter: Eddie Hearn (Matchroom Sport)
• Ring Announcer: Michael Buffer
• Aired On: Sky Box Office, Showtime Championship Boxing (Main Event)
• IBF World heavyweight title (4th defense by Joshua)
• WBA Super World heavyweight title (1st defense by Joshua)
• IBO World heavyweight title (1st defense by Joshua)

Notes

Timeline

CompuBox Punchstats

Total Punches	Joshua	Takam
Landed	152	52
Thrown	454	222
Pct.	33.5%	23.4%

• On May 1, Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn told the press that Joshua would not return to the ring until October: "Anthony will have May, June off, so he’s not going to be ready until October".[1]
• On May 13 Hearn confirmed that IBF mandatory Kubrat Pulev would be Joshua's next opponent if Wladimir Klitschko retired instead of going for the Joshua rematch.[2]
• On June 9, Hearn insisted that Joshua-Klitschlo 2 would likely be next, after which Joshua aimed to fight WBC Champion Deontay Wilder and WBO Champion Joseph Parker in unifications, and then have a rematch with Dillian Whyte.[3]
• On July 2, Joshua confirmed that his next fight would either be against Klitschko again or Pulev: "The ball is in Klitschko’s court. It is up to him whether he wants to have a rematch or whether he says, 'you know what, I've had enough.' Plan B would be to look at the option with Pulev. So either it will be Klitschko, which would be great, or Pulev, which would be great. I am not bothered either way."[4]
• Two days later, Hearn said that Klitschko did not wish to return to the UK for the rematch and instead wanted have the fight abroad, most likely Las Vegas or Nigeria. He also added: "If we don't fight him, it will be Pulev on October 28 in Cardiff."[5]
• On August 2, Hearn told Sky Sports that "by the end of next week, we will have a final decision in terms of venue and opponent", and expressed his optimism that the next fight would be Joshua-Klitschko 2 in Las Vegas on November 11.[6]
• On August 3, Klitschko officially announced his retirement.[7][8] Hearn responded: "When the IBF cleared the Klitschko rematch it was under the proviso that if it's not Klitschko it must be Pulev, so we've already got talks in place with Kalle Sauerland." According to Hearn, Cardiff was "the frontrunner" venue, and the date would either be October 28 or November 11.[9]
• On September 5, it was announced that Joshua would defend his titles against Pulev in Cardiff on October 28.[10]
• On October 16, Pulev was forced to pull out of the fight due to a shoulder injury; IBF's next highest ranked contender Carlos Takam officially stepped in that same day as a late replacement.[11][12]
• "When the Pulev fight was announced I made a deal with Takam’s team to begin [training] camp and be on standby for this fight", said Eddie Hearn during the announcement.[13]

Ranking Movements

• As the Pulev/Takam fight drew closer, Takam, who was already ranked second by the IBF, also went up in the WBO rankings: he went from being unranked in August to No. 12 as of September 11 and No. 9 as of October 11.
• On the day of the fight October 28, he also entered WBA rankings at No. 14.

The Fight

• Joshua has surpassed Mike Tyson's record of 19 consecutive knockouts.
• Unbeaten champion Joshua opened up a nasty cut above 36-year Takam's right eye in the fourth round and knocked down the durable France-based Cameroonian late in round.
• It was far from a straight-forward night for Joshua in the Principality Stadium as the 28-year-old appeared to suffer a broken nose in the second round after an accidental clash of heads.
• Takam caught Joshua with some shots but they didn't have enough power to hurt the champion.

Comments

• "I was trying to break him down round by round." - Anthony Joshua
• "Unfortunately, the ref stopped it. I think people want to see Takam unconscious on the floor." - Anthony Joshua
• "That was where I was trying to get to. I don't have control over the ref's decision." - Anthony Joshua