It has just been announced by Kevin Barry, the trainer of Joseph Parker, on his twitter page that Joseph Parker (18-0, 16 KOs) and Carlos Takam (33-2-2, 25 KOs) will face off in an IBF eliminator bout to become the mandatory opponent to the winner of Charles Martin vs Anthony Joshua.
The fight is scheduled to take place April 17th in Horncastle Arena, in New Zealand in Parkers home country. The announcement of this fight comes as exhilarating news, as it shows that Parker badly wants to fight Joshua, and he is ready to get in the mix of the heavyweight division.
In reality, Parker has made a situation where if he and Joshua both win their next fights, they will be mandated to face off against one another, in what could be a fight of the two best heavyweights we will see over the next ten years.
Joseph should not be a heavy favorite in this fight however, as Carlos Takam is a feared veteran heavyweight from France who has been in the ring with his fair share of solid opposition. Takam is a fighter who is skilled for a heavyweight and is extremely disciplined and patient. He picks his shots wisely and might cause fits for Parker who seems to gravitate his game around his offensive attack and combination punching.
Takam has only fought three times since being brutally knocked out by Alexander Povetkin in the fall of 2014, and only fought three times in 2015, all against notable journeymen such as Michael Sprott and George Arias.
The two fighters will be of similar size, as Parker stands at 6’4 and Takam is just below that at 6’2 1/2. Parker is much younger than Takam and should have the noticeable speed advantage in the ring, which he will need to take advantage of.
Takam and Parker share the same reach at 76’, which is not long at all for the heavyweight division, thus, both fighters will need to work on the inside for the most part if they want to efficiently land shots. This fight will take place a week after Joshua and Martin duke it out in the O2, and assuming Joshua wins the title which most of us expect, it could create two young offensive powerhouses battling it out for a belt: just what this sport needs.
Parker vs Takam will be a fight that most of the boxing world will have their eyes on, as Joseph Parker will need to prove to the eyes watching that he is the real deal.
