One of boxing’s brightest stars in the heavyweight division steps in the ring this Saturday when former Olympic Silver medalist Joe Joyce (12-0) goes up against former heavyweight title contender Carlos Takam (39-5-1).
This was not the originally planned bout for Joyce as he was in negotiations to fight Oleksandr Usyk. However, Joyce has Tyson Fury to thank for that fight not being made.
The infamous arbitrary judge deciding that Tyson Fury owed Deontay Wilder a third fight caused his planned undisputed title fight against Anthony Joshua to be canceled.
As a result, Oleksandr Usyk (who is Anthony Joshua’s mandatory challenger) stepped in to replace Fury while Takam stepped in to fight Joyce.
Fighting out of the United Kingdon, Joyce is one of many elite British fighters in the heavyweight division. In just 12 fights that with notable wins coming against former world champion Bermane Stiverne and former world title contender Bryant Jennings.
In his most recent fight, Joyce secured the best win of his career beating British heavyweight rival Daniel Dubois by 10th round stoppage.
While Takam, fighting out of Nevada by way of Cameroon, is currently on a four-fight win streak, he has not done well against elite-level fighters.
Four of his five losses have come against former world champions or world title contenders including knockout losses to Alexander Povetkin, Anthony Joshua and Dereck Chisora.
Keys to Victory for Joe Joyce
Joyce is one of the most powerful fighters in the heavyweight division with 11 of his 12 wins coming by stoppage. He will need to use his power and significant height advantage (6’6″ to 6’1″) in order to beat Takam.
In his fight against Daniel Dubois, despite coming away with the win, Joyce was down on two scorecards when thw fight was waved off. This came as a result of Joyce allowing Dubois inside and unleash punching combinations landing cleanly more often than not.
That can not happen if Joyce wants to win this fight. He will need to control the distance of the fight using his jab that helped him get the stoppage against Daniel Dubois.
How does Carlos Takam pull off the Upset?
If Takam wants to win, he can not give Joyce a still target to work with. In his fight against Anthony Joshua, he showed great movement slipping the champion’s punches.
Also, while Joe Joyce has a significant height advantage, Takam has a half-inch advantage with his reach. Finding a comfortable distance early and mounting his offense will be key to earning the victory.
Joe Joyce vs. Carlos Takam prediction:
As the overwhelming underdog in this fight, Takam has little to no pressure going into this fight. All of the pressure is on Joyce who has a lot to lose going into this fight.
Joyce has said that he wants to challenge the winner of Usyk-Joshua, however, he can not get that fight if he loses this one. Not only will there be tremendous pressure on him to win but to do so in spectacular fashion.
Ultimately, it will be Joyce who will walk away with a knockout win most likely coming in the ninth round.
Start Time/How to Watch
- When: Saturday, July 22
- Start Time: 2:15 PM EST
- How to Watch: FITE TV