Joe Joyce vs Carlos Takam should be a heavyweight slugfest Saturday night, and we have all the pre-fight info for you including picks and predictions.
The action goes down early evening U.S. time in London, England when these two come-forward warriors lock horns at the SSE Arena, Wembley.
For Joyce (12-0) it is an opportunity to cement his position as the next WBO mandatory challenger to the winner of Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk on September 25.
For Takam, it’s a chance at the age of 40 that he is not quite done at the top level. The man has cojones and significant experience (39-5-1) but you have to wonder if those talents are on the wane now.
Joyce vs Takam picks and predictions
This should be a barnurner – while it lasts. Joyce has a 92 percent KO ratio in his relatively short pro career so far (he was stellar amateur and only narrowly missed out on gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics. He lost a controversial decision to another heavyweight prospect in Tony Yoka).
Takam meanwhile doesn’t have massive one-punch KO power but he never takes a step back and is as tough as they come.
The way to look at this one though is two men apparently headed in opposite directions. Joyce, though 35, is very much on the way up after that career-best win over highly-touted Daniel Dubois last November.
Joyce is bigger, has a granite chin, a fearsome jab and just keeps coming forward. He’s like a heavyweight Michael Myers (Halloween, people) – you’d hate to be on the opposite side of the ring.
We can’t see this one going the distance – while Takam has won his last four they’ve all been against inferior opposition. His last two trips to the UK both saw him put in brave performances but eventually in both he went out on his shield, via KO.
We expect Joyce to do exactly what Joshua and then Dereck Chisora did and get Takam out of there inside distance, but it will take a little while. He will wear down the Frenchman before finishing him at some stage in the second half of the bout.
Joyce is a -1000 chance on the money line – none of us are getting rich there (unless we have a spare mill in the basement. Stryker absolutely does not) while Takam is best odds at +770.
We’ll look to the props for our fight pick, which is Joyce to win at some stage in Rounds 7-12 at a nice looking +135 with FanDuel. Double your money people, and more.
OddsCritic Pick: Joe Joyce to beat Carlos Takam in Rounds 7-12 at +135 (FanDuel)
When is Joyce vs Takam
The bout takes place Saturday July 24 and ring walks for the main event in London are expected between 1700 and 1800 Eastern (1400 and 1500 Pacific).
Is Joyce vs Takam on TV in the U.S?
Fite.tv has the rights to Joyce vs Takam in the U.S. and the cost of the stream/broadcast is currently $12.99.
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