Fight Night Preview 28th October 2017

Ok fight fans it’s that time of the week again fight night preview time. This week The Principality Stadium will be playing host to the next step on the journey for Anthony Joshua, as well as a packed undercard including 2 other world title fights

Anthony Joshua V Carlos Takam

There is only one place to start this week and that is with this big heavyweight fight. This fight will be Joshua’s 4th defence of the IBF title and 1st defence of his WBA and IBO titles. He comes into this fight with a perfect record of 19-0 all of his wins have come by knockout and he’s yet to see the 12th round. He’s won all of his last 6 fights all of them by knockout. This will be his first fight since that stunning knockout of Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley back in April.

Carlos Takam is a late replacement for this fight after Kubrat Pulev had to pull out with a shoulder injury. He comes into this fight with a record of 35-3-1 with 27 knockouts. He’s won 5 out of his last 6, 4 of them by knockout. In his last fight he beat Ivica Bacurim with a 2nd round knockout.

On paper this should be a routine defence for Joshua, but as we know nothing is routine in boxing, and Takam is a better fighter then his record suggests he’s got a good defence and he can take a shot. This fight is a chance for Joshua to put his money where his mouth is because after Takam lost to Parker he said that he would knock him out. To be honest I can only see this fight going one way and that is with a Joshua knockout by the 3rd round.

Dillian Whyte V Robert Helenius

Dillian Whyte comes into this fight with a record of 21-1 with 16 knockouts. He’s won 5 out of his last 6 fights, 3 of them by knockout. In his last fight he made a statement on his US debut stopping Malcolm Tann in the 3rd round.

Robert Helenius comes into this fight with a record of 25-1 with 16 knockouts. He has also won 5 out of his last 6 fights, 4 of them by knockout. In his last fight he beat Evgeny Orlov with a 6th round stoppage

This should be a very competitive and close fight because we’ve got to fighters at similar ages with similar records. There’s no question both men can fight but I think Whyte will win this by a late stoppage because I believe that he has fought at a slightly higher level. If he does it should definitely put him in the world title mix as this fight is for the WBC Sliver title.

Anahi Sanchez V Katie Taylor

This fight will be Anahi Sanchez 1st defence of her world title that she won last time out, and she comes into this fight with a record of 17-2 with 9 knockouts. However she’s not been on the best run of form recently only winning 4 out of her last 6 fights, 3 of them by knockout. In her last fight she knocked out Cecilia Sofia Mena in the 6th round to win the title.

This will be Katie Taylor’s first shot at a world title as a professional and some are asking has this opportunity come too soon for her? What those people have to remember is she won multiple world titles as an amateur, so she’s used to been in big high pressure fights. She comes into this fight with a perfect record of 6-0 with 4 knockouts. In her last fight she stopped Jasmine Clarkson in the 3rd round on her US debut.

This will be the toughest fight of Taylor’s career so far but I think she is a much better all round boxer than Sanchez, so I can see her winning on points or by knockout in the late rounds

Kal Yafi V Sho Ishida

This fight will be Kal Yafi 2nd defence of his world title, and he comes into this fight with an undefeated record of 22-0 with 14 knockouts. He’s won all of his last 6 fights, 3 of them by knockout. In his last fight he beat Suguru Mauranka by unanimous decision to retain his title.

This fight will be Sho Ishida’s first shot at a world title,and he comes into this fight with a record of 24-0 with 13 knockouts. He’s won all of his last 6 fights, 3 of them by knockout. This fight will be his first fight outside of Japan so you never know how the crowd might affect him

In this fight we’ve got two undefeated fighters fighting for the world title, and we all know what that means someone 0 has to go. This should be a close fight but I think Yafi’s hand speed and power will be too much for Ishida to handle, and I can see him winning on points or by late stoppage.

Frank Buglioni V Craig Richards

This fight will be Frank Buglioni 2nd defence of his British title, and he comes into this fight with a record of 20-2-1 with 15 knockouts. He’s won 5 out of his last 6 fights, 3 of them by knockout. In his last fight he beat Ricky Summers by unanimous decision to retain his title.

Craig Richards comes into this with a perfect record of 10-0 with 4 knockouts. He’s won all of his last 6 fights, but only 2 of them by knockout in his last fight he beat Norbert Szekers with a 3rd round knockout. This fight is going to be a fight of firsts for Richards because it’s his first fight that’s been scheduled for 12 rounds, it’s also the first time he’s fought a fighter with a winning record.

This is going to be a very difficult fight for Richards if he gets off to a fast start he may win the early rounds. However I can see him tiring going into the 2nd half of the fight, which is when I can see Buglioni taking over to win it on points.

Enjoy the fights and please comment below and let me know your thoughts.