By Ian S Palmer
The WBC Silver and WBO International Heavyweight Titles are on the line at Wembley Arena in London, England this Saturday, July 246th as undefeated hometown hero Joe Joyce defends his belts against veteran heavyweight contender Carlos Takam of Cameroon. Joyce won those belts as well as the British, European and Commonwealth Titles the last time out in November when he stopped young prospect Daniel Dubois in the 10th round. Takam last saw action in July, 2020 when he beat Jerry Forrest by a 10-round unanimous decision. The bout can be seen live in the UK on BT Sport 1.
The 35-year-old Joyce didn’t turn pro until late in 2017. He enjoyed a fine amateur career with gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 European Games. He also took home a silver from the 2016 Olympics in Brazil in the super-heavyweight division when he lost the gold-medal match to Tony Yoka of France.
Joyce owns a perfect record of 12-0 with 11 wins coming by way of knockout. He stands 6-feet-6-inches tall with an 80-inch reach and it’s obvious he has some power in his fists with a 91.7 per cent knockout record. His opponents so far have been Dubois, Michael Wallisch, Bryant Jennings, Alexander Ustinov, former WBC World Champion Bermane Stiverne, Ian Lewison, Rudolf Jozic, Donnie Palmer, Lenroy Thomas, Ivica Bacurin, Iago Kiladze and Joe Hanks.
It’s not exactly an elite list but each one of his opponents had a winning record. Joyce’s boxing skills haven’t had a chance to be showcased very often as he has four first-round Kos as well as one in the second stanza and two in the third and has boxed just 53 rounds since turning pro. Joyce won the vacant WBA Continental Heavyweight Belt with his win over Hanks in December, 2018 and the only man to go the distance with him so far has been Bryant, who lasted 12 rounds in July, 2019 but dropped a unanimous decision.
Takam is now 40 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 239 rounds since his pro debut in 2005 and has built up a record of 39-5-1 with 28 Kos.
Takam stands just over 6-feet-1-inch tall with an 80.5-inch reach so gives up 4.5 inches in height to Joyce but basically owns the same reach. He also has pretty good power with a current knockout ratio of 62.2 per cent. His other pro losses have come to 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.
Takam has also beaten the likes of 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.
Prediction…
This is a good matchup in size and power but both boxers are getting a bit long in the tooth. Still, Joyce’s excellent jab did the job against Dubois and caused some serious eye damage while at it. Takam has quite a bit of energy for a 40-year-old and isn’t afraid to let his hands go. Joyce has better overall boxing skills but it’s usually his power that ends fights. He’s a bit underrated even after the win against Dubois and still hasn’t really had his chin severely tested as of yet. Takam always comes to win and should give Joyce a good test, but I think it’s one that Joyce will pass.
