Joshua vs Takam results: Anthony Joshua retains belts with 10th round stoppage

Anthony Joshua retained his IBF and WBA titles with a questionable 10th round stoppage.

Anthony Joshua was clearly the better fighter today against Carlos Takam, but he was taken into the later rounds, and the 10th round stoppage was a questionable one. Nonetheless, Joshua remained unbeaten and kept his KO percentage perfect, retaining his WBA and IBF heavyweight titles in Cardiff, Wales.

Joshua (20-0, 20 KO) stopped Takam at 1:34 of the 10th round, when the referee stepped in.

Takam (35-4-1, 27 KO) was as tough and tricky as advertised. He went down in the fourth round, when he ate a left hook from Joshua that put Takam’s glove on the canvas, but the round ended before Joshua could really follow up.

That might have been the most trouble Takam was ever really in in the fight. If nothing else, today’s bout showed a few things Joshua needs to work on. He didn’t cut off the ring well at all, as Takam moved around stayed away from Joshua, largely taking away the defending champion’s best punch, his uppercut.

But Joshua was patient and did his job, jabbing away when he could, mixing in power shots when he could. Takam is a good fighter, a smart fighter, and while he was never truly in this fight, he also wasn’t completely overwhelmed by Joshua, and he made AJ work a lot harder than most opponents have to date. But it’s important to remember that Takam is, in fact, a good fighter.

What did you think of the stoppage and Joshua’s performance today?