I’LL TAKAM ALL ON
Joshua insists super sub Carlos will give him a big test as ‘all boxers are studying me... he’s really been ready to fight me for 18 months’
ANTHONY JOSHUA claims Carlos Takam knows all about him because he has been stalking him since last year.
Takam has stepped in to face Joshua, at just 12 days’ notice.
But the heavyweight king says he has been preparing since tracking him down to call him out 16 months ago.
Takam followed Joshua back to his hotel to confront him after he stopped Dominic Breazeale in June 2016 in the first defence of his IBF crown.
The Frenchman was put on standby by promoter Eddie Hearn seven weeks ago and Joshua insists he will be ready when they clash in front of 78,000 people at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Saturday week.
“After I fought at The O2, Takam waited at my hotel and said to me, ‘I want to fight you!’,” said the WBA Super and IBF champ. “I said, ‘I’ve already had a fight’. I swear, that’s what he did!
“It was after the Breazeale fight. He came to the fight, then waited for me in reception. I knew who he was.
“He’s a big unit – 22 stone. That shows these fighters are now watching me, so Takam will know my strengths and weaknesses.” The bookies are not convinced and make Joshua an even hotter favourite to win than he was against his original IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev.
Joshua, 28, disagrees and says the shorter Takam, who is ranked No.3 by the IBF, will be harder to stop than Pulev.
He defended Hearn’s decision to go with the Paris-based Takam, who has lost three of his 39 fights, to fulfil the IBF’s mandatory – even though he is virtually unknown in the UK.
“In terms of style of opponent, he’s definitely harder to knock out because he’s incredibly durable,” said the undefeated Joshua, who has won all of his 19 fights inside the distance. “It’s not all about your Twitter followers – that doesn’t make you a good fighter. People say this person would have been a better fight because he’s well known.
“Takam has fought some good people, but maybe because he’s not so active on social media, the public may not know much about him.
“But he’s definitely a credible opponent and we can’t take our eye off the prize.
“This is his golden ticket to shock the world.”
While Takam, 36, is a huge step down from fighting Wladimir Klitschko, Joshua knows bigger fights lie ahead, if he wins.
“Every fight leads somewhere, provided I win, so I need to defeat Takam,” said Joshua, speaking at his Sheffield training base.
“That’s the mindset – I have to defeat Takam. It doesn’t end with him, we have to move on. If I can get past him, who knows what 2018 holds?”