A tense press conference came to a close at The Landmark in London in advance of the highly anticipated heavyweight bout on Saturday night (7/24) between undefeated and #1 World Rated (WBO) JOE JOYCE (12-0 11KO’s) and heavyweight title contender, CARLOS TAKAM (39-5-1 28KO’s).
Things got off to a smooth start, as Star Boxing CEO JOE DEGUARDIA explained the importance of this fight for Carlos Takam, “Joe [Joyce] is in a great position. He’s about to fight for the championship of the world, but he’s got to get through Carlos first. A win for Carlos puts him in that position.”
It didn’t take long, however, for the jousting between Carlos Takam and Joe Joyce’s manager, SAM JONES to begin. When questioned about Jones’ previous comments in regard to having a mole in the Takam camp, Jones replied cheekily “It’s not moles, it’s just the morning report.”
Takam, in response said, “Sam doesn’t know my game plan,” to which Jones replied, “I do [know your game plan], I’ve watched all of your spars.” Takam promptly snapped back, “Why you watch my sparring? Maybe you are scared of me or what?”
Joe Joyce was finally able to tune in and said, “training camp has gone really well… I have done all that I can in the training camp leading up. The camp has been good, I have had great sparring. I am in a good place, he’s in a good place, we are going to have a car crash Saturday night, we are both going to go at it, and I am going to win.”
In parting, Takam said, “To Joe, I want to say good luck, and to Sam, no, I have nothing to say to Sam…” Needless to say, there is no love lost. The tension and energy will look to spill over into the ring on Saturday night at the SSE Arena, with major heavyweight stakes on the line.
The Joyce-Takam fight card can be watched on BT Sport Boxing (7:15 PM GMT +1) and in the USA on FITE.TV (2:15PM ET).
