This past Saturday in Cardiff, IBF and WBA Heavyweight Champion of the World Anthony Joshua stopped the late fill-in challenger Carlos Takam (35-4-1, 27KO) in ten-stanzas via technical knock-out. Thus, his record moves to a career-wise perfectly unblemished 20-0 with none going the distance. Many in the Principality Stadium attendance felt that the third-man in the ring, Ref. Phil Edwards issued a poor stoppage and one that let A.Joshua off the hook of his obvious fatigue and busted schnoz. Many of that many, humsoever, ne'er stepped foot in the ring.
Humsoever once more, lettuce allow more weight to fellow pugilists and their weighing-in: whenst Joseph Parker doth touts yer performance as 'average,' and it's tough to find-fault in the point, yikes. Deontay Wilder chimed-in as well, with calling for the head-on-a-platter of whomever it is whom Anthony Joshua employs as his 'stamina coach.' I don't get these specialty coaches that are en vougue for a couple ticks-worth'a time now. Strikes me as too many chiefs for a lone Indian* to answer to. *Native American (apologies). That said, the thickly muscled A.Joshua came in at 254-pounds and fatigued for an in-the-spotlight second time in as many'a them spotlights. Too, he shredded the mug of C.Takam, but a very good place to start is from the beginning...
'Twas the first defense of the title AJ lifted from Wladimir Klitschko on April 29th. As alluded to above, Takam, a Parisian via Cameroon and adoption, was a late-replacement for the scheduled Kubrat Pulev, whom pul(ev)led out due to an injured shoulder. And that there sets the stage for this prize-fight: a new champ defending 'gainst a foe whom he vastly did not train for. A foe, at that, whom was supposedly training all-along as an under-study of sorts of Pulev.
Each fighter opened cautiously. Joshua perchance hesitant of falling prey to an under-dog replacement of renown tenacity; Takam perchance over-come by the moment although already having been-in with Joseph Parker and Alexander Povetkin (failingly-each). The opening-round, whatever the reasons, was particularly void of much anything from each participant. Then in the second-frame, a pair of head-butts from the much shorter challenger freed blood to flow freely from the champ's nose. The response was watered eyes and an awakening of AJ offense -- all told, he answered well with an opening-up of atack.
Skipping to the fourth, Takam pulled the short-stick in an exchange which left him cut rather badly by his right-eye. Following this up admirably in the next stanza, Joshua let loose more blood to the extent that the referee called in the ring-side physician for a looksie. At 'round this point, Takam's left-eye was too cut. Whilst the Parisian showed much courage, Joshua was well in control, even as he did eat some blows. Speaking of eating blows, Anthony Joshua worked his man's body quite-well through-out these rounds.
Takam's ninth round was begun with another trip to the doc, and then a heightened sense of urgency at its on-set. This tact, whilst well-advised, was less-than fruitful and by the tenth, Joshua began assailing him with head-shots as the challenger showed less and less of any ability to stop the barrage. Then P.Edwards saw 'nuff and rightly stepped in to call an end to the affair. Saving the very tough pug from his own-self. Again, when the competitiveness is at its end, so should be the competition. I have no qualms whatsoever with the call.
That said, Anthony Joshua was far from fresh as a daisy. It's simply that Carlos Takam was much-more a black-eyed susan. Just because AJ may've been fresh for someone's picking, doesn't mean it was Takam's place to be the picker. The challenger showed up well and to a goodly accounting, but that don't mean that the champ surely did. Neither does it mean Joshua was 'exposed' as so many like to say about so much; as nothing here was shown that already wasn't seen. Pundits now ask themselves if they thought too much of one, or not 'nuff of the other. Yes, I say.
Anthony Joshua is not built for an action-filled twelve. He errs towards being mechanical, also. So there are flaws. There is a mandatory challenge soon to come the Brit's way, as well as a much balley-hooed show-down with Deontay "Windmill" Wilder. With most eyes feverishly set-upon the latter, how would an Anthony Joshua versus Deontay Wilder match un-furl? Quite simply and cliche'd, the longer it goes the better chance Wilder got. It's just he'll be susceptible to AJ counters, as he cannot seem to skillfully throw a punch. It very well may become a feces-show instead of the blockbuster affair many believe it will be. Remember those old Toughman competitions? That. With Joshua's class, I feel, garnering him the ugliest of late stoppages. Maybe even a first trip to the score-cards.
What if, then, this burgeoning glorious era of the Heavyweight division winds up not being all that, let alone a bag of chips? Remain calm and wait for Jarrell "Big Baby" Miller and Daniel "Dynamite" Dubois to be a pair a' Jesuses to this current crop's John the Baptists... mayhaps a terrible analogy for this Jew to make, and I expect my Rabbi worries reading this -- but you gentlepersons get the gist of it all.
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"THE MONK REPLIED"
