ANTHONY JOSHUA DEFEATS CARLOS TAKAM BY A CONTROVERSIAL STOPPAGE IN THE 10TH
CARDIFF, Wales (October 29th, 2017) (AP) — They came to see another explosive knockout from Anthony Joshua, the flattening of a 36-year-old journeyman opponent called up at 12 days’ notice to fight heavyweight boxing’s new superstar.
So when the referee moved in midway through the 10th round to stop Joshua administering more punishment to the game but beaten-up Carlos Takam, the 78,000-strong crowd made their feelings known.
Jeers rained down from all sides of the Principality Stadium on Saturday after Joshua’s 20th straight professional victory was sealed. He’d got through an uncomfortable fight with a busted nose and his WBA and IBF belts intact, but his army of fans wanted more.
“I think people wanted to see Takam unconscious on the floor,” Joshua said.
“My shorts and boots were white at the start and now they are pure pink,” he added. “It’s the ref’s job to allow the fighter to live another day.”
Fighting for the first time since beating Wladimir Klitschko in April, Joshua was unexpectedly taken beyond seven rounds for only the second time of his pro career as Takam — a veteran of 40 fights — lived up to his reputation as a tough, durable opponent.
The Frenchman, an injury replacement for Kubrat Pulev and giving up nearly 30 pounds (13 kilograms) to Joshua, took an eight count in the fourth round after toppling from a left hook and fought on with a cut above his right eye that twice required treatment. He absorbed some big shots and also had a cut over his left eye by the time Joshua caught him with a hook-uppercut combination in the 10th.
Joshua was moving in to land more blows when the referee stopped the fight. Takam shook his head in disgust and many in the crowd booed the decision.
“I don’t know why the referee stopped the match,” said Takam, whose name was cheered after the fight.
Joshua was fighting at the heaviest weight of his professional career — 254.8 pounds (115.6 kilograms) — and predicted a grueling slog against an experienced opponent that gets in close and works the body.
It got even trickier for Joshua when the fighters clashed heads in the second round, leaving the Briton with blood streaming from his nose.
Joshua looked frustrated at times, and even showboated in the seventh round by walking into Takam’s range with his arms out and head down, then shaking his head as Takam threw a punch. He was constantly talking to Takam, attempting to draw him in.
“I had to keep my cool,” Joshua said.
The win set up Joshua for a unification fight in 2018 with either WBO champion Joseph Parker or WBC champion Deontay Wilder, though initially he may need to face a mandatory challenger for the WBA belt.
Especially in Britain, Joshua has become a phenomenon, easily packing out big stadiums — there were 90,000 fans at Wembley against Klitschko, and almost as many at Cardiff on Saturday — but fighting in the United States, or maybe Africa or the Middle East, does interest him.
“I’ll fight anyone,” Joshua said.
Dillian Whyte Defeats Robert Helenius
Dillian Whyte overcame some troublesome moments early to beat Robert Helenius rather easily Saturday night.
Whyte was buzzed in the second round, but the London-based heavyweight contender bounced back to out-work a reluctant Helenius and won a 12-round unanimous decision on the Anthony Joshua-Carlos Takam undercard at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.
Whyte won by big margins on all three scorecards (119-109, 119-109, 118-110).
The 6-feet-6, 248½-pound Helenius appeared disinterested and tired over most of the final 10 rounds. The Jamaican-born Whyte (22-1, 16 KOs) was in control for most of their boring bout, but didn’t appear to hurt Helenius (25-2, 16 KOs) badly at any point and seemed content to win by decision.
The unremarkable win was Whyte’s second straight since his taxing, split-decision defeat of Dereck Chisora on December 10 in Manchester, England. Before Saturday night, Finland’s Helenius had won three fights in a row after France’s Johann Duhaupas knocked him out in the sixth round of their April 2016 bout in Helsinki, Finland.
The 6-feet-4, 247½-pound Whyte hopes his victory Saturday night lands him a fight against WBC champion Deontay Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs).
The 29-year-old Whyte is ranked No. 3 by the WBC and won the vacant WBC silver heavyweight title by beating Helenius. The top spot in the WBC’s heavyweight rankings is unoccupied.
Wilder, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will make a mandatory defense of his championship in a rematch with former champion Bermane Stiverne (25-2-1, 21 KOs) on November 4 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Whereas Whyte looked sloppy in the first two rounds, Helenius appeared to be tired by the fifth round. Whyte landed a hard left uppercut with a little more than two minutes to go in the fifth, yet not much thereafter that affected Helenius.
Whyte overcame some serious trouble in the second round by landing several heavy shots in third round, when Helenius mostly moved backward. Helenius wobbled Whyte with a right hand in the second round, though it wasn’t at all an indication of what was to come for the remainder of their fight.
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