Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua full of respect for beaten challenger Carlos Takam as he reacts online afterwards.
This weekend saw an overall entertaining heavyweight battle in Cardiff. It ultimately ended in a premature stoppage after both fighters had sustained injuries in the fight.
The challenger receiving the more extreme of the injuries, with massive cuts over both eyes that he somehow managed to fight on through up until the 10th round, when the referee thought he had enough and called off the fight in favor of champion Anthony Joshua.
Following the bout Joshua was full of respect for his opponent afterwards and reacted online by saying:
Respect to Takam. Onto a positive 2018 ???? #AJBXNG pic.twitter.com/MP10NYQmqe
— Anthony Joshua (@anthonyfjoshua) October 28, 2017
Early on in the bout Joshua suffered a broken nose for the first time as a professional after an accidental headbutt from Takam caught him square on the nose.
When questioned afterwards the champion was keen to impress upon the media that he did not think the headbutt was intentional, rather accidental as a result of a shorter fighter in Takam coming up with his head by accident when trying to fight on the inside.
He went into to detail in the post fight press conference on it (hat tip IFL TV):
