Carlos Takam faces a defining night as he seeks to unsettle the WBA and IBF heavyweight champion’s well-planned roadshow in Cardiff
As his wait for a fight wound down, the world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua looked and sounded like a man guarding against complacency rather than the unknown threat ahead of him at the Principality Stadium on Saturday night, the low-key Frenchman Carlos Takam.
Hitting the scales in Cardiff on Friday at a heavier than expected 18st 2lb, heftily more than Takam’s 16st 11lb of honed muscle, Joshua said his 36-year-old challenger – pitched in late to replace the mandated but injured Kubrat Pulev – deserved his full respect. “I’m confident but not too cocky” he told an adoring crowd, his voice cracking slightly, which suggested he might be riding out a cold.
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