ANTHONY JOSHUA believes fighting Carlos Takam rather than Kubrat Pulev could prove a “blessing in disguise” and a step towards achieving his ambition of fighting in Nigeria.
The IBF and WBA heavyweight champion defends his titles at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Saturday. Joshua has had less than a fortnight to prepare for Takam after the injured Pulev’s withdrawal.
As is often the case with title defences against mandatory challengers, Takam – like Pulev before him – is far from the calibre of opponent a demanding public had hoped for after seeing Joshua stop Wladimir Klitschko.
In my mind I’ll always be the challenger ???? #StayHungrypic.twitter.com/lOLYMTjDYp
— Anthony Joshua (@anthonyfjoshua) October 26, 2017
However the little-known Frenchman, according to Joshua, could prove crucial to his hopes of eventually realising another of his career goals.
This week he spoke of his desire to simultaneously hold all four world heavyweight titles, but for even longer the fighter born to Nigerian mother Yeta and Irish-Nigerian father Robert has wanted to fight in the West African nation.
With boxing promoters often also considering it necessary to build interest in fights that require specific circumstances, the 28-year-old is confident that with Takam, who was born in Douala in Cameroon, he will be assisted in doing just that.
“It’s definitely a blessing in disguise,” said Joshua, who on Friday weighed in at a career-heaviest 18st 2lbs, significantly bigger than his 16st 11lb opponent. “There’s massive interest. Takam’s good, he’s from Cameroon; it’s Africa, people are watching for sure.
The 16st 11lbs Takam noticeably smaller than the career-heaviest 18st 2lbs Joshua but, if there’s been any doubts, looks in very good shape pic.twitter.com/QsQsoFiEvH
— Declan Warrington (@decwarrington) October 27, 2017
“It doesn’t have to be an African fighter to fight there; it definitely has to be a champion though. We have to know who they are, and providing there’s no politics, anything’s possible right now.
“I’m not in a rush to go anywhere. I like fighting in London, in the UK. I come from a grassroots system, so I like fighting in this UK grassroots type of atmosphere.”
Joshua, whose full name is Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua, on Saturday fights for the first time while widely considered the world’s leading heavyweight. He recognises that the victory over Klitschko and his status since then has led to an even wider following, dominated by a more casual fan.
“People, even if they’re not die-hard boxing fans, want to say, ‘I was there’, because of the type of fight the Klitschko one was,” he said. “People now just want to be involved in the entertainment side of boxing because there are some memorable nights that are going to happen sooner or later, and they just want to say, ‘I was part of that journey’.”
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