Those who paid to watch Anthony Joshua take on Kubrat Pulev in Cardiff next week will no longer watch Pulev, but Carlos Takam instead.Takam has stepped in as a replacement following Pulev’s withdrawal through injury.Promoter Eddie Hearn said Joshua, the defending WBA, IBF and IBO, was “p***ed off” after hearing the news about Pulev, but he insists Takam will still present a stern challenge to the Brit.“Takam is a durable rough-house fighter who puts on a lot of pressure,” Heard said, per the Evening Standard.“He is relentless. And he has been handed the biggest chance of his life here. He’ll run through walls for this one.”Takam, who holds a 35-3-1 record, presents a different test to the one Joshua has been preparing for.The Cameroonian-French boxer is 6ft 1in, compared to Pulev’s height of 6ft 5in, with Hearn referring to him as a “scrapper”.“This new opponent is very capable of taking AJ into the later rounds,” the promoter added.
“We haven’t gone through the list and found some random fighter to step in.”
Takam fought Joseph Parker last year
Takam has previous when it comes to big fights, having fought current WBO champion Joseph Parker in 2016.
The pair slogged it out for 12 rounds before Parker was awarded the win via unanimous decision.
And if the New Zealander’s comments after the fight haven’t caught Joshua’s attention just yet, they certainly should do.
What Parker said after beating Takam
"What a great fighter Carlos Takam is," Parker said, per Sky Sports. “We said this was going to be a hard fight. I had to have my A-game.
"That was a tough, exciting fight."
You can watch the entire Parker v. Takam contest below for an idea of the 36-year-old’s style.
Haye thinks Joshua will win easily
Despite Parker’s comments on Takam, and Hearn’s attempts to suggest Joshua is in for a real fight on October 28, fellow Brit David Haye doesn’t believe the former Olympic champion will have any problems extending his record to 20-0.
"He did get knocked out against Alexander Povetkin in Russia so he's got history," Haye told Sky Sports, via the Express.
"He's been knocked out before, he lost his fight against Parker, so I don't really anticipate Takam putting too many obstacles in front of the man who is No. 1 at the moment."