Anthony Joshua to spar with former opponent Carlos Takam ahead of Joseph Parker unification showdown

Former opponent Takam will spar with Joshua ahead of his March 31 fight

Anthony Joshua will spar with Carlos Takam (Getty)

A familiar face will be helping Anthony Joshua get into top shape ahead of his unification showdown with Joseph Parker on March 31 – former opponent Carlos Takam.

Joshua, the IBF and WBA (Super) heavyweight champion, stopped Takam in the tenth round of his last fight, in front of 80,000 spectators at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

But it was a tough night at the office for Joshua, who clashed heads with Takam before profiting from what many considered a harshly premature stoppage.

And it transpires that Joshua was so impressed with the Cameroon-born fighter that he has invited him into his camp ahead of his fight with Parker.

“AJ doesn’t want to spar someone who is not on a world level, AJ wants someone who is competitive,” Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, revealed.

“It’s a compliment that AJ has six or seven sparring partners but has said ‘I want Takam because I believe that’s a great spar, he can give me great work.”

Takam has not fought since his defeat by Joshua, although a contest with the British veteran Dereck Chisora is understood to be in the works.

However, Takam is still smarting from his controversial stoppage loss to Joshua last year.

“I am still angry about the stoppage,” Takam told Boxing News. “Very, very angry.

“I don’t know why this guy stopped the fight. I was not hurt. I was okay.

“I asked him [Phil Edwards] after the fight, ‘Why did you stop it? Why did you stop it?’ I want to see the referee again, face to face, and ask him again: ‘Why did you stop the fight?’ It was terrible.”