Joseph Parker vs Carlos Takam Preview May 21st
Unbeaten heavyweight prospect Joseph Parker of New Zealand squares off against Carlos Takam of Cameroon in a 12-round bout at the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau City, New Zealand on Saturday, May 21st. The hard-hitting Parker is hoping to add a few more wins to his resume before eventually getting a world title shot at newly-crowned WBA Heavyweight Champion Anthony Joshua of England. Parker’s last bout was an eighth-round stoppage over Jason Bergman back in January. Takam also packs some power in his fists and last fought to an eight-round unanimous decision over George Arias in November. Fans in the UK can see the fight on Sky Sports 3.
Parker vs Takam Betting Odds
Here are the winner odds from online sportsbook 5dimes.eu
- Carlos Takam +400
- Joseph Parker -550
My Pick
The 24-year-old Parker won the WBO Oriental Heavyweight Championship by stopping American Brian Minto in seven rounds back in 2014. Parker also holds several other regional heavyweight titles at the moment in his part of the world. Parker may not be that well known by most North American and British boxing fans, but he’s the top ranked heavyweight in his native New Zealand. He’s unbeaten up to now in his young career and will be entering the ring with a perfect record of 18-0 with 16 Kos. He’s faced some decent boxers so far such as Minto, Marcelo Luiz Nascimento, Kali Meehan, Bowie Tupou, Jason Pettaway, Frans Botha and Sherman Williams.
Parker turned pro back in 2005 and has 68 rounds under his belt since then. He has decent size for a modern-day heavyweight at 6-feet-4-inches in height with a 76-inch reach. The most notable thing about him though is his power as he’s knocked out 89 per cent of his opponents up to now. He’ll be facing the 35-year-old Takam who has an impressive record of 33-2-1 along with 25 Kos. Takam turned pro in 2005 and has fought 166 rounds. He’s lost to Alexander Povetkin by 10th-round Ko in 2014 and dropped an eight-round unanimous decision to Gregory Tony in 2009. His draw was a 10-round majority decision against Mike Perez in 2014.
Takam, who now fights out of France, has beaten the likes of Nascimento, Botha, Michael Sprott, Tony Thompson and Michael Grant. He’s shorter than Parker at just over 6-foot-2-inches and his reach is unlisted. He also has good power though with a current knockout ratio of 69 per cent. Takam keeps busy each round and throws a lot of punches. He is arguably the toughest and hardest-hitting opponent Parker has faced up until now. He’ll try to outwork and pressure Parker on Saturday and that’s his best course of action.
Prediction……
This is a decent matchup between two boxers with good power and similar type of experience. There isn’t much of a size difference, but Parker is 11 years younger than Takam. They both have the power to stop each other and Takam has been stopped once himself. This contest should provide some excitement and fireworks and it’ll let fans know if Parker is truly a contender or a pretender. As long as Parker’s chin is up to snuff, he should be able to beat Takam by decision or stoppage in the second half of the fight.
Parker should be too young and powerful, but it’s not a given.
Play: Parker -550 @ 5dimes.eu
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Carlos Takam betting • Joseph Parker betting