Nigerian-born British boxer, Anthony Joshua retained his WBA ‘super’ and IBF heavyweight titles on Saturday night with a 10th-round stoppage win over Carlos Takam after a brutal battle in Cardiff.
The unbeaten 28-year-old suffered a suspected broken nose after a head clash in the second round, but gradually broke down the brave resistance of Takam to bring up his 20th straight knockout win.
Joshua’s preparations were disrupted last week, with Takam replacing the injured Kubrat Pulev, and the France-based Cameroonian displayed his renowned durability as he dragged Britain’s star boxer into a damaging dogfight.
Unbeaten champion Joshua, who has Nigerian parents, opened up a dreadful cut above 36-year Takam’s right eye in the fourth round and although the durable France-based Cameroonian battled on, the fight was halted after a series of heavy blows.
It was far from a straightforward night for Joshua in the Principality Stadium, however, as the 28-year-old appeared to suffer a broken nose in the second round after an accidental clash of heads with his shorter and lighter opponent.
Joshua’s victory in his first fight since his epic tussle with Wladimir Klitschko in April took his record to 20-0.
Many fans were disappointed that the fight was stopped.
Beaten Takam also believed that the referee was not right to stop the fight.
No, I don’t think so,” he says. “I don’t know why the referee stopped the match. I respect the champion and the UK fans, they are great fans and I am happy to box here. I don’t why they stopped it.
“I want a rematch, I make my preparations with 12 days to fight Anthony. I want a rematch, I want to box him again, I want him, he is a great champion.”
The two fighters fought for a combined total of around £11million. Total fight revenues will be bigger than this figure.
Joshua is going to take the bulk, as you would expect as he defends his belts.
It will be around 90/10 in Joshua’s favour, meaning Joshua can be expected to earn £10million and Carlos Takam £750,000.
