Takam will not roll over for AJ

LONDON: Anthony Joshua has been told not to take Carlos Takam, his last-minute opponent lightly when the pair slug it out in Cardiff next weekend.

Takam was drafted in as an 11th-hour replacement for Kubrat Pulev, who has been forced to withdraw with a shoulder injury, and he will attempt to become the first man to beat Joshua and take his IBF and WBA heavyweight belts.

Takam may have an onerous task in preparing to face the mountainous Joshua, who has won all of his 19 fights by knockout, but he’s no mug. The Cameroon-born heavyweight, who fights out of France, has only lost three of his 39 fights and recorded 27 stoppages, suggesting he packs a meaty punch. He even took Joseph Parker the distance last year.

“He is 36 and been around the fridges of world title contention for the last two or three years,” said BBC boxing commentator Mike Costello. “He’s the next available contender and has been on standby since the fight against Pulev was announced. He will be fit and ready to perform.”

Takam is three inches shorter than Pulev so will present a different challenge and force Joshua to recalibrate his fight preparations.

“Takam is aggressive,” added Costello. “He’s brave but he’s very easy to hit. His best win will have been against Tony Thompson three years ago but Joshua is a much bigger step up in class. Takam is not as highly regarded as Pulev. He doesn’t have the same amateur background or the same pedigree but it’s a different style for Joshua to have to contend with now at this late stage. It’s a serious test all the same.”

Takam won’t come into the fight completely cold as Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn, always had the hulking Cameroonian lined up just in case.

“There is big pressure on Carlos Takam but, in theory at least, he has been training for this fight for the past two months,” boxing expert Steve Bunce told the BBC. “His people had been told there was an outside chance of him facing Joshua, if anything happened with Pulev, back in August. So if we believe that he has been preparing all that time, after his last fight in June, then at least we have a fit Takam.

“He is only about 6ft1in. He fights small, about five or six inches shorter than Joshua, which doesn’t look good. But at least the fight is going ahead and rest assured, far worse fighters than Takam have challenged for world titles over the past 20 years.”