Anthony Joshua vs Carlos Takam: British heavyweight defends WBA and IBF titles by stopping Takam in the tenth round
Relive Joshua's title defence at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff
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Anthony Joshua endured a frustrating night before eventually stopping Carlos Takam and defending his IBF and WBA heavyweight titles in 10 rounds in Cardiff.
In his first fight since ending the career of the great and once-dominant Wladimir Klitschko, 28-year-old Joshua required his advantages in size, speed and power to gradually wear down his previously little-known opponent from France.
Bigger fights against superior opponents are expected to follow in 2018 - but in defeating his mandatory challenger and excluding that with Klitschko, the Briton unexpectedly faced the toughest match-up of his career.
Relive the fight below.
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When is it?
The fight takes place on Saturday 28 October at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
Anthony Joshua's career in pictures
Show all 23What time is it?
The exact time of the ring walks is scheduled for 10.15pm, with the first bell at 10.30pm.
What TV channel is it on?
The fight will be screened live on Sky Sports Box Office.
And how do I get that?
You can book the fight on Sky’s website. It costs £19.95, or €24.95 in the Republic of Ireland.
You can also book by going to channel 491 and pressing Box Office. And if you like doing things the old fashioned way, pick up the blower and give 03442 410888 a ring.
How do I get tickets for the fight?
Tickets were on sale to Matchroom Fight Pass members at midday on Monday September 11, before going on general sale a day later. Check StubHub to see if there are any remaining.
Rail passengers have been warned to plan their journey in advance at www.nationalrail.co.uk or by calling Traveline Cymru on 0800 464 0000.
The Independent will be live blogging the fight so make sure you check back on October 28 for build-up, live coverage and expert reaction and analysis, led by boxing legend Steve Bunce.
What are they fighting for?
Takam was handed this fight as the IBF’s mandatory challenger, in the absence of Pulev.
Joshua’s IBF, WBA (Super) and IBO (if you count that one, that is) title will be at stake.
What happened to Joshua’s original opponent?
Pulev suffered a shoulder injury in sparring, with Takam the next in line.
“I received a call from [promoter] Kalle Sauerland late afternoon to inform me that Pulev had injured his shoulder and may be ruled out of the fight - this was later confirmed by his doctor,” Eddie Hearn later explained.
“IBF rules state that the mandatory will go to the next fighter in line, which is Carlos Takam.”
Can I get a refund?
If you really wanted to see Pulev fight that badly … yes, you can get a refund of sorts.
Fans who already paid £19.95 to watch the fight between Joshua and Pulev have not already been billed yet. So those disappointed with the announcement of Takam as Joshua’s new opponent will not be charged providing they do not tune into the fight.
Who is on the undercard?
The full undercard is yet to be announced, but here is what we know of it so far:
- Dillian Whyte vs Robert Helenius for the WBC Silver heavyweight title
- Lenroy Thomas vs Dave Allen for the Commonwealth heavyweight title
- Frank Buglioni vs Callum Johnson for the British & Commonwealth light heavyweight titles
- Lawrence Okolie vs TBA
- Joe Cordina vs TBA
- Joshua Buatsi vs TBA
Who is Carlos Takam?
The Cameroonian heavyweight, a former Olympian, will pose an entirely different challenge to Pulev, as Joshua's promoter Hearn has been quick to admit.
“When the Pulev fight was announced I made a deal with Takam's team to begin camp and be on stand-by for this fight. When I called them on Monday evening they were overjoyed and good to go,” he explained when the news of the Bulgarian’s injury broke.
“It's a difficult position for AJ having prepared meticulously for the style and height of Pulev – he now faces a completely different style and challenge in Takam. This hasn't happened in his career before but he is ready for all comers on October 28.”
Takam may not have the pedigree or profile of Pulev – who is hardly a well-known name himself – but he is an accomplished opponent with a solid chin and Joshua would be unwise to take him lightly.
Shorter and rangier than Pulev, Takam’s profile rose significantly when he shared 12 rounds with current WBO champion Joseph Parker last year. Takam was able to live with Parker’s power and dominated the middle rounds, but faded in the eighth and could have no complaints about being outpointed.
But Parker – who had at that point stopped 16 of his 18 opponents – was impressed with Takam’s ability and praised him generously in the ring after the fight.
“That was a tough, exciting fight – I still have a lot to learn,” he said. “Carlos Takam came hard, strong and prepared.
“What a great fighter he is. We said this was going to be a hard fight. I had to have my A-game. I'd like to thank my coach for giving me instructions when I made mistakes.”
The loss was the third of Takam’s career, after earlier defeats to the former kick-boxer Grégory Tony and the former WBA champion Alexander Povetkin.
Ultimately, the 36-year-old will have little chance of defeating Joshua, but as an aggressive come-forward style of boxer he retains a puncher’s chance, and he will hope to take advantage of any flaws in Joshua’s mental preparation for this fight after such a late change to proceedings.
What are their records?
Joshua boasts a flawless professional record of 19 fights, 19 victories – with all of them coming by way of knockout.
Here’s a comprehensive look at all of his fight so far, from his first-round stoppage of Emanuele Leo at The O2 Arena to his sensational 11th-round victory over Klitschko at Wembley Stadium.
Takam meanwhile has a competitive professional record of 35-3-1. He beat Croatian Ivica Bacurin in Italy last time out, with his three defeats coming against Grégory Tony (21-7), former WBA champion Alexander Povetkin (32-1) and reigning WBO champion Joseph Parker (24-0).
What have they been saying?
Joshua on the threat posed by Takam: “In boxing, I think it's a sport that's unforgiving in the sense that, if Takam beat me that loss will stay on my record for a lifetime, that will always be in my legacy.
“It's not 'oh, he was a world champion and he done well for the sport of boxing. No, no, no he was 19-1 - that's Anthony's legacy and I just don't want that blemish on my record right now.
“Takam is already as tough as they come. He's so tough. He just keeps on walking forward and that's disheartening for a fighter.
“When I'm in there with him, it will be interesting to see how game and ready he is, and what fire he is ready to go through.”
Takam on fighting Joshua: “I don't know if I'm excited stressed or confused but I'm definitely ready for the fight. It will be a proper fight.
“AJ is a good boxer who likes to box and I like opponents who like to come forward and throw punches. I like to get stuck in as well.
“I believe in myself. I never go into a fight thinking I might lose - I'm a winner, I like to win not to lose.
“I'm not scared, 80,000 fans means nothing to me. I've boxed in New Zealand, Canada, Russia [so] that won't faze me. It's about what happens in the ring. It's about me and him.”
What are the odds?
Joshua is the clear favourite and is 1/100 with a number of bookmakers’. Takam can be backed at 12/1 with a draw as high as 40/1.
Good evening and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of Anthony Joshua's heavyweight title fight with Carlos Takam.
The main event of the evening is expected to get underway at around 10pm, but stick with us in the meantime for coverage from the undercard as well as a round-up of all of the action so far.
While we're waiting for the main event - the ring walks are expected around 10pm - why not hype yourself up some more with Steve Bunce's big fight preview?
He's of the opinion that Joshua is well on his way to becoming one of the all-time heavyweight greats...
Yafai defeats Ishida
We're around halfway through the undercard in Cardiff and earlier Kal Yafai successfully defended his WBA super-flyweight title for the second time by outpointing Sho Ishida to move into contention to fight some of the division's biggest names.
The 28-year-old, fortunate to be fighting in an era in which there is an unusually high level of interest in those at 8st 3lbs, again demonstrated his potential at world level by easing to a unanimous decision victory.
Japan's Ishida, 25 and previously undefeated, consistently fought without the belief required to defeat the ambitious champion, succumbing by scores of 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112 via the three judges.
Despite his superior range, he was outworked by Yafai - targeting both the head and body - from almost the opening bell, and took until the sixth to land a punch of note when he threw a strong right hand.
Yafai responded with three fine shots at the start of the seventh, and in the eighth landed the fight's biggest punch when a powerful left sent the challenger back onto the ropes.
His constant and unanswered aggression ensured he continued to remain in control, and that only in the 12th round there was a need to resist anything beyond single shots from the unambitious Ishida, who rallied far too late.
Among his reputable divisional rivals, it is to be hoped Yafai can secure a unification fight against the highly-rated WBO champion Naoya Inoue, also of Japan, or Nicaragua's once-great Roman Gonzalez.
Earlier on...
Rio 2016 Olympian Lawrence Okolie went 6-0 in the paid ranks with a destructive third round stoppage of Adam Williams.
Another Olympian was next up, the talented Joshua Buatsi, who remained unbeaten but was taken the distance for the very first time in his career by a determined Saidou Sall.
And in a British light-heavyweight title fight, Frank Buglioni won via unanimous decision with scores of 117-111, 117-111 and 116-113 over Craig Richards at the Principality Stadium.
AJ is in the house!
In the ring, Katie Taylor is taking on Anahi Sanchez for the WBA lightweight title and is giving a very good account of herself...
Taylor beats Sanchez!
What a superb performance from 31-year-old Katie Taylor, who only turned professional less than 12 months ago but is now the WBA lightweight champion of the world.
The Irishwoman was dominant throughout and almost finished Sanchez in the third round with a brutal shot to the body. Sanchez somehow managed to hang on and did well to last for the rest of the fight, but there was never any doubt over the result.
It was a unanimous decision in Taylor's favour with all of the judges scoring the contest 99-90 and Taylor really did show she was a completely different class.
Here's Taylor speaking after her victory:
It means more than words can express, this is a dream come true - it was by far the biggest night of my career.
It was tough, but I am delighted to be world champion. I got a bit wild at times and left myself a bit open.
This is the start of the takeover from me in the lightweight division - I want to unify these belts.
Dillian Whyte up next
The Brit fights Robert Helenius for the vacant WBC Silver heavyweight title.
We'll be bringing you round by round updates from this one.
Round one
Not very much landed: a tentative start. Helenius looking to establish his jab and Whyte looking to go to the body early.
Round two
Danger for Whyte! Helenius is a rangy, awkward puncher and clips Chisora with a right hook that lands flush on his chin. That's rocked Whyte ... who ends the round very unsteady on his feet when his opponent clips him with a stinging jab.
Whyte has a fight on his hands here.
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