The heavyweights will be featured for the first time in the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN summer series Thursday.
Longtime contender Carlos Takam of Cameroon is scheduled to face Jerry Forrest of Newport News, Virginia in the 10-round main event in the tightly controlled MGM Grand bubble in Las Vegas.
Forrest (26-3, 20 KOs) was originally scheduled to face Jarrell Miller in “Big Baby’s” comeback fight but Miller tested positive for a banned substance and was pulled from the card.
Takam (38-5-1, 28 KOs) has faced many big-name heavyweights but the 39-year-old, who built his career in France but now lives in Las Vegas, has generally come up short in his biggest fights. He has lost to Alexander Povetkin, Joseph Parker, Anthony Joshua (in a title fight) and Derek Chisora since 2014.
He hasn’t been in a notable fight since the Chisora bout, which was in July 2018. He has beaten three journeymen since then.
If nothing else, Takam seems to have been serious about his training. He weighed in Monday at 245.7, his lightest weight since the Joshua fight in October 2017. Forrest weighed 225.6.
Forrest (26-3, 20 KOs) is far removed from his biggest fights, losses to Gerald Washington and Michael Hunter in 2013 and 2014.
He won 18 consecutive fights against journeymen after the Hunter loss before losing a split decision to unbeaten Jermaine Franklin in July of last year. He bounced back to win his most recent fight, a second-round knockout of Martez Williamson in September.
Other fighters on the card weighed in as follows:
- Carlos Castro (25-0, 10 KOs) 123.8 vs. Cesar Juarez (25-8, 19 KOs) 124.4, 10 rounds
- Joshafat Ortiz (7-0, 4 KOs) 130.8 vs. Joshua Orta (6-0, 2 KOs) 132.7, six rounds
- Fred Wilson Jr. (6-0-2, 2 KOs) 159 vs. Donte Stubbs (6-1, 2 KOs) 159.5, six rounds
- Peter Cortez (2-1, 1 KO) 147.5 vs. Corey Champion (1-3, 1 KO) 147.6, four rounds