By Cliff Rold

Anthony Joshua was in no danger of losing the fight.

He was in danger of losing his perfect career streak of knockouts. Maybe he finishes Carlos Takam before he hears the bell to the end the twelfth. Maybe not. Still competing, the Frenchman by way of Cameroon appeared far from finished when referee Phil Edwards saved him from the sort of flurry of offense he’d ridden through for most of the night.

Joshua’s streak remains. It would have been nice to see him fully earn knockout number twenty. It was, from this view, a terrible stoppage. There’s no denying Joshua looked well on his way to the win but Takam deserved better and may have done some good for Joshua. Takam showed him some wrinkles on Saturday night from a solid veteran. For a fighter with global megastar hopes who is still learning on the job, those wrinkles could serve him well going forward.

Let’s go to the report card.

Grades

Pre-Fight: Speed – Joshua B+; Takam B/Post: Same

Pre-Fight: Power – Joshua A+; Takam B/Post: Same

Pre-Fight: Defense – Joshua B; Takam B/Post: B; B+

Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Joshua A; Takam B/Post: Same

The strategy from Takam seemed fairly obvious after a few rounds. In the opening stanzas, it wasn’t clear if he would ever really attempt some offense but his defense was keeping him afoot. Takam made Joshua miss a lot all night and by the seventh round he was starting to throw to the body and trying to find a big right hand upstairs by punching with Joshua.

It wasn’t a bad though but it left Takam open and it was clear Joshua’s shots were affecting him when they landed. The cut Takam suffered almost halted him even getting those chances. Takam’s reaction to the first cut in the fight looked like he might be ready to call it a night. He didn’t and, as he’s done against everyone he’s faced win or lose, Takam made Joshua work all night.

Joshua did plenty right. He’s as good inside as anyone his size since maybe Riddick Bowe. Joshua gets better in every fight at catching and firing short shots back. He also goes to the body. His right hand could use some work. Sometimes, he fires it. Other times, he bends at the knee and fires it almost sidearm in a motion that is more Ralph Macchio painting the house than fist of devastation.

And it’s hard to ignore that Joshua, four pound higher and more heavily muscled than he was against Wladimir Klitschko, was taking some deep swallows of air at times. Takam didn’t have the kind of attack to take advantage. Someone will. Joshua might be well served to spend more time training old school cardio and less time on the weights.

He’ll have time to do it. Still the biggest breakthrough story of the year, there has rarely been something like what we’re seeing with Joshua in just his fourth year as a pro. The tickets he’s moving is without a ton of precedent for someone so relatively new and it makes him the man in the division.

Everyone is going to want to fight him because it will pay to do so. In the US, a showdown with WBC heavyweight titlist Deontay Wilder is seen as the biggest deal though its unclear if it’s as true outside the States. In the UK, if David Haye wins his rematch with Tony Bellew, that would be a monster as would a showdown with Tyson Fury if and when he gets back in the ring. WBO titlist Joseph Parker lingers too and might be getting a hair underrated against the rest of the field.

Chances are, most will get their chance. Heavyweight has a new rainmaker in place and he hasn’t even taken this show on the road yet. The rounds he picked up against Takam aren’t going to make him any easier to deal with.    

Report Card and Staff Picks 2017: 41-17

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com