Carlos Takam could be excused if he wasn’t on point Thursday night. The Cameroonian heavyweight lost his father a week ago.
The fact he performed well under those circumstances – and having taken the fight on short notice – is a testament to his professionalism and ability, even at 39 years old.
Takam (39-5-1, 28 KOs) outboxed and outworked the younger Jerry Forrest to win a unanimous decision in a 10-round heavyweight bout in the MGM Grand bubble in Las Vegas.
Takam weighed in at 245.7 pounds for the fight, his lightest since he was stopped by titleholder Anthony Joshua in 2017. And he fought like it, moving well, beating Forrest to the punch, landing the bigger, eye-catching shots.
The right hand was there all night for Takam, who outlanded Forrest overall 106 (of 455 punches thrown) to 70 (of 321), according to CompuBox.
Meanwhile, Forrest (26-4, 20 KOs) did more posing than punching in the first half of the fight, allowing Takam to take a big lead on the cards. After five rounds, Forrest had won just one round on one card.
The Newport News, Virginia product picked up his pace to some degree at that point at the same time Takam began to slow down. Takam also seemed to be bothered by a cut below his right eye he suffered early in the fight, the result of an accidental head butt.
Thus, Forrest was able to win a few rounds. However, he couldn’t dig himself out of the early hole and lost a clear decision. The scores were 96-94, 98-92 and 97-93.
“My father passed away a week ago, so I came into the fight with a heavy heart,” Takam said. “It may not have been a spectacular knockout, but most importantly, we got the win. …
“We took this fight on short notice, but the opportunity on ESPN was too big to pass up. We knew we could beat him regardless.”
What’s next for Takam?
He was originally scheduled to fight Oscar Rivas this summer but Rivas pulled out because of an injury. Takam would still like to fight the Colombian. And, of course, he would like a second shot at major championship. He mentioned Tyson Fury.
Said Takam: “I want anyone in the top five or a title shot if that materializes.”
In the co-feature, junior featherweight contender Carlos Castro (26-0, 11 KOs) of Phoenix took another step toward a shot at a major belt by forcing former title challenger Cesar Juarez (25-9, 19 KOs) of Mexico to quit after the fourth round of a scheduled 10-round featherweight fight.
Castro gave an impressive performance, consistently landing sharp punches to the head and vicious shots to the body to break down his experienced opponent while taking almost nothing in return.
Juarez’s trainer asked him after the fourth round whether he should stop the bout and the fighter seemed to give him a nod, acknowledging that he was taking too much punishment from a much better fighter.
Castro, ranked by three of the four major sanctioning bodies, is obviously ready to take on the best in the 122-pound division.
“I want any title opportunity or interim title shot,” Castro said. “Whatever comes my way, I am ready. I am highly ranked and prepared for the next step.”
Also, Joshafat Ortiz (8-0, 4 KOs) of Reading, Penn., defeated Joshua Orta (6-1, 2 KOs) of Springfield, Mass., by a majority decision in a six-round lightweight bout.
And, in the first televised bout, Donte Stubbs (7-1, 2 KOs) demonstrated that he has come a long way in nine days.
The Riverside, Calif., fighter lost a majority decision to Isiah Jones in the summer series on June 30. On Thursday, he put then-unbeaten Fred Wilson Jr. (6-1-2, 2 KOs) of Cleveland down twice and defeated him by a unanimous decision in a six-round middleweight bout.
The scores were 58-54, 58-53 and 58-53. Wilson also was docked a point for holding.