CARLOS TAKAM plans to defeat Anthony Joshua at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Saturday night then set up a showdown with his old sparring partner, David Haye.
For now, the 36-year-old’s plan is up there with the pies in the sky. Takam will need to score the mother of all upsets against Joshua, and then hope Haye can get revenge over Tony Bellew on December 17.
After stepping in to take place of the injured Kubrat Pulev, Takam is a massive underdog against the WBA and IBF champion, but believes those writing him off have done so unfairly as a consequence of his points loss to Joseph Parker in a failed bid for the WBO strap in 2016.
“When I lose a fight, I accept that I lost it and against Parker I respect the decision of the judges,” said Takam before explaining the reasons behind his lacklustre performance.
“For me, I try not to look at it as a defeat, it’s just a way to learn more. I always ask myself what I could have done better in the fight, I ask myself what was missing from my game. Also, I should have arrived earlier in New Zealand to acclimatise. I got tired in that fight.”
Certainly his efforts were far from impressive back then but he insisted it will be different in Wales, even front of a massive pro-Joshua crowd.
“I’m not too bothered about fighting in front of 80,000 people, the only people in the ring will be myself and Joshua, nothing else matters except the two athletes. I don’t see all those people when I’m in the ring.”
Indeed, Takam should be able to make out the gigantic frame of Joshua, who will stand five inches above him. The Paris-based Cameroonian accepts that he is up against it, but he’s been studying his rival carefully. Joshua’s trainer, Rob McCracken, is aware that the bustling Takam could be a threat in close.
“If I can do things differently from what other boxers have done against him, I’ll have a chance to win by knockout,” said Takam.
“It will be just as important to work Joshua’s body as well as the head, and my speed will be important too. A lot of people have asked me if I see any weaknesses in his style. All I can say is we will see on fight night. I do know that he has a lot of quality.”
When pressed, Takam said he believed Joshua is a “better fighter” than WBC champion Deontay Wilder but didn’t comment on how ‘AJ’ shapes up with David Haye. But he does believe his old pal will gain revenge over Bellew at the O2 Arena in December.
“I have sparred David Haye in the past and it was very competitive sparring. It was very interesting.
“I believe that David will correct the mistakes he made in the first fight with Bellew and he will win the rematch. You never know, maybe one day David and I will fight in a real match.”
