By Ian S Palmer
Veteran heavyweight contender Carlos Takam of Cameroon will be taking on hard-hitting unbeaten prospect Arslanbek Makhmudov of Russia the latter’s NABF Heavyweight Title at the Montreal Casino in Quebec, Canada this Friday, September 16th. The 10-round bout is scheduled to be shown in America on ESPN+. Takam last fought in July of last year when he was stopped by Joe Joyce in the sixth round for the WBC Silver, Commonwealth, and WBO International Heavyweight Titles. Makhmudov was last in action in February when he stopped Mariusz Wach in the sixth round to defend the NABA and NABF Belts.
Takam is now 41 years old and fought out of France for awhile but resides in America. He made a name for himself in October, 2017 when he was stopped in 10 rounds by Anthony Joshua in an attempt to wrest the WBA, IBF and IBO heavyweight belts from him. He was then stopped by Dereck Chisora in the eighth round in his next outing nine months later for the vacant WBA International Heavyweight Title. He’s boxed 245 rounds since his pro debut in 2005 and has built up a record of 39-6-1 with 28 Ko’s.
Takam stands just over 6-feet-1-inch tall with an 80.5-inch reach and possesses pretty good power with a current knockout ratio of 61 per cent. His other pro losses have come to Joyce, Alexander Povetkin by10th-round KO in 2014, an eight-round unanimous decision to Gregory Tony in 2009 and a close 12-round unanimous decision to Joseph Parker in May, 2016. His lone draw was a 10-round majority decision with Mike Perez in 2014.
The biggest wins of Takam’s career have been over the likes of Jerry Forrest, Senad Gashi, Marcelo Luiz Nascimento, Franz Botha, Michael Sprott, Tony Thompson and Michael Grant. He stopped Marcin Rekowski in the fourth round in 2017 for the vacant IBF Inter-Continental Heavyweight Belt and his unanimous decision over Thompson was for the vacant WBC Silver Heavyweight Title. He stopped Grant in eight rounds for the WBF Heavyweight Strap in 2013, halted Botha in 11 rounds in 2012 for the vacant WBF International Title and is also a former WBO African Heavyweight champ.
The 33-year-old Makhmudov fights out of Montreal and makes the ring walk with a perfect record of 14-0 with 14 Ko’s. There’s no denying his power as he owns a 100 per cent knockout ratio and has never gone past the seventh round. In fact, 10 of his stoppages have come in the very first round. Makhmudov made his pro debut in 2018 and has just 28 rounds under his belt since.
Before turning pro, he had a fine amateur career and also fought in the World Series of Boxing. Makhmudov stands just over 6-feet-5-inches tall with an unlisted reach which gives him a four-inch height advantage over Takam. So far, the biggest wins of his career have been against Pavel Sour, Jason Bergman, Jonathan Rice, Samuel Peter, Erkan Teper and Wach. Since turning pro he’s also captured the WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight Crown.
Prediction…
Arslanbek Makhmudov has most of the advantages here including age, size and power while Takam does have a lot more pro experience, especially against upper-level opponents. Takam may be able to get a few rounds in but I’m expecting Makhmudov to go to 15-0 and keep his 100 per cent KO record intact.
