Britain’s Anthony Joshua retained his IBF and WBA world heavyweight titles when he stopped bloodied challenger Carlos Takam in the 10th round in Cardiff on Saturday.
Unbeaten champion Joshua opened up a dreadful cut above 36-year-old Takam’s right eye in the fourth round and although the durable France-based Cameroonian battled on the fight was halted after a series of heavy blows.
Reports monitored from Reuters/NAN says it was far from a straightforward night for Joshua in the Principality Stadium, however, as the 28-year-old appeared to suffer a broken nose in the second round after an accidental clash of heads with his shorter and lighter opponent.
Joshua’s victory in his first fight since his epic tussle with Wladimir Klitschko in April took his record to 20-0.
However, Carlos Takam has said he wants a rematch with International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Association (WBA) Heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua.
Takam has now lost four of his 40 professional fights, winning 35.
Reacting to his loss, Takam, who replaced the injured Kubrev Pulev, expressed sadness that the referee decided to stop the fight in the tenth round.
“No, I don’t think so,” Takam replied, when asked if the referee’s decision to stop the match in the 10th round was fair to him.
“I don’t know why the referee stopped the match. I respect the champion and the UK fans, they are great fans and I am happy to box here. I don’t know why they stopped it,” he added.
