Cameroonian Frenchman Carlos Takam, is regarded as the heavyweight division's gatekeeper after he proved to be too much for Tony Yoka in their bout early this year, ending Yoka's hopes of winning the title.
The Olympic gold medalist Tony Yoka, (now 11-2 9 KOs) was defeated by Carlos Takam (now 40-7-1 28 KOs), at the Zenith de Paris, France in March this year thereby giving him his 40th career victory. Takam won the bout by a clear majority decision because he was in complete control of the fight's tempo and action from the outset.
Takam will attempt to defeat Yoka's top rival Martin Bakole (19-1, 14 KO wins, 1 KO loss), who last year handed Yoka his first career defeat.
30 year old Martin Bakole is a Congolese professional boxer from Kananga in the DRC. Bakole has previously beaten Ihor Shevadzutskyi, Mariusz Wach, Tony Yoka, Sergey Kuzmin, and Rodney Hernandez, among other prominent opponents.
"The big lion in the forest is not going to leave his play for a little one. Is Martin Bakole ready? I want Sky to organize that fight," said Takam in media reports.
“Martin Bakole's like a little brother to me, like Tony,” added Takam.
In their last fight with Yoka, Takam was courteous. He had charmed the audience at Zenith de Paris with his performance, but took offense to his new fans booing Yoka right away.
"I was not happy with that. Seriously that guy is an Olympic gold medalist. He was a world champion amateur. They cannot say that. You see when Anthony] Joshua fights, everybody's behind Joshua. They say, 'Go, go AJ.' That guy, he needs support, I'm a big supporter. I'm a big fan of Tony," he added. “Because I've seen him grow up.”
"I'm feeling good. I prepared really hard for that fight. I want to say in that camp, I worked like crazy," said Takam.
On Saturday, October 28th, at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Martin Bakole and Carlos Takam will square off in a ten-round bout as part of a show that also features WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury vs. former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
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