Carlos Takam 245.7 lbs vs. Jerry Forrest 225.6 lbs – weigh-in results

By Boxing News - 07/08/2020 - Comments

By Jim Maltzman: Carlos Takam weighed in at 245.7 lbs, and his opponent Jerry Forrest came in at 225.6 pounds for their ten round fight this Thursday night on ESPN at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Top Rank is promoting the card as part of its summer series on ESPN.

Takam vs. Forrest isn’t the most significant fight, but it’ll be at least slightly interesting for boxing fans given the history of the two fighters.

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The 39-year-old Takam (38-5-1, 28 KOs) has the experience advantage over the 32-year-old Forrest, and he’s the favorite to win.

(Photo Credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank)

Takam jumped at the chance to take the fight

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum did an excellent job of finding former world title challenger Takam to fill the empty slot to face the little known Jerry Forrest. When Top Rank asked Takam if he was interested in meeting Forrest, he readily agreed.

Takam has been involved in several high-level fights during his 15-year pro career. These are the well-known opposition Takam has faced:

  • Anthony Joshua – TKO 10 loss in October 2017
  • Alexander Povetkin – TKO 10 loss in October 2014
  • Joseph Parker – UD 12 loss in May 2016
  • Dereck Chisora TKO 8 loss in July 2018
  • Tony Thompson – UD 12 win in June 2014
  • Mike Perez – Draw 10  in January 2014
  • Frans Botha – TKO 11 in March 2012
  • Michael Grant – TKO 8 in May 2013

Anthony Joshua had a lot of problems beating Takam in 2017 in Cardiff, Wales. The referee Phil Edwards suddenly jumped in and stopped the fight in the 10th round after Joshua threw a flurry of shots, most of which were picked off on the gloves of Takam. When Takam went to fire back, the referee Edwards stepped in and stopped the match. The crowd was unhappy at the premature stoppage, and they let the referee know about it.

Takam was brought in as a replacement for Josua after his initially scheduled opponent Kubrat Pulev suffered an arm injury and couldn’t fight. Joshua was supposed to blow out Takam, but he instead had to scrap hard to get the win.

Carlo’s fight with Perez made a name for him

Takam’s controversial 10 round draw against Michael Perez in 2013 is the fight that put him on the map in the eyes of boxing fans. He fought well enough to deserve the win, but it was scored a draw. Perez came into the fight with Takam, having beaten Magomed Abdusalamov by a 10 round unanimous decision in November 2013.

Abdusalamov wound up with a blood clot on the brain, and subsequently suffered a stroke. His boxing career was over. Perez didn’t look like he was mentally there for the Takam fight, and the 10 round draw he was given was highly controversial. Boxing News 24 had Takam winning eight rounds to two.

After that fight, the 6’2″ Takam beat former two-time world title challenge, Tony Thompson, by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision in 2014. Takam threw a lot of shots against the taller 6’5″ Thomspon and won an easy decision. Unfortunately for Takam, he ran into a prime Alexander Povetkin in his next fight in October 2014, and he was stopped in the 10th round.

Jerry Forrest is a step down for Takam

Forrest is a big step down in competition for Takam from the guys he’s faced during his career, but he may be too old at this point. Takam isn’t the young guy that he once was eight years ago, and we saw that in his loss to Chisora in 2018.

Image: Carlos Takam 245.7 lbs vs. Jerry Forrest 225.6 lbs - weigh-in results

That was a fight that Takam was winning until getting caught with a big shot behind the head [aka rabbit punch] in the eighth round to put him down. Chisora then quickly finished Takam off with another knockdown to score an eighth-round knockout.

Takam was born in Douala, Cameroon, in 1980, and he now lives in Henderson, Nevada, which is 15 miles away from Las Vegas. It’s a little more expensive place to live than Las Vegas, but both cities are friendly. Takam has won his last three fights, beating the following low-level opponents:

  • Fabio Maldonado
  • Craig Lewis
  • Senad Gashi

Those fighters were stay-busy fights for Takam to keep him winning while he waited for a significant opportunity to face one of the elite-level heavyweights. Thursday’s battle for Takam against Forrest isn’t a change from the lesser opposition he’s been facing lately.

Indeed Forrest fits in well with the last three opponents Takam has faced. There’s no upgrade at all, but you can give Takam a pass because it’s the middle of the pandemic, and he’s being brought in as a replacement.

The Takam-Forrest card will start at 8:00 p.m ET/5:00 p.m. PT on ESPN and ESPN Deportes.

Jarrell Miller was supposed to be fighting Forrest

Forrest (26-3, 20 KOs) was supposed to be fighting Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, but he tested positive for a banned substance and was pulled from the card. The Forrest fight would have been a second chance for the 32-year-old Miller, who was suspended a year ago after testing positive for three banned substances while preparing for a title shot against IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.

Image: Carlos Takam 245.7 lbs vs. Jerry Forrest 225.6 lbs - weigh-in results

Miller had to be pulled from the card after the New York State Athletic Commission denied him a boxing license to fight. The rest is well-known history. Joshua’s promoter Edie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing found Andy Ruiz Jr to replace Miller, and he wound up pulling off a massive upset in stopping Joshua in the seventh round.

Ruiz’s fifteen minutes of fame was over in December of last year when AJ avenged his loss in beating the overweight 283-pound California native by a 12 round decision.

With Jerry Forrest, 32, it’s hard to know what you’re going to get out of him tomorrow night. He’s lost each time he’s stepped up against better competition during his eight-year pro career, but he’s got talent. We saw that in Forrest’s small 10 round split decision defeat against the highly touted contender Jermaine Franklin (20-0, 13 KOs) last year in July 2019.

Forrest gave the 6’2″ Franklin all he could handle in that fight. Of course, we don’t know how good Franklin is either. Although a lot of boxing fans are high on him, he hasn’t beaten anyone of note, and he struggled badly in beating Forrest.

Hunter and Washington with wins over Jerry

In Forrest’s other two step-up fights, he lost to Gerald Washington and Michael Hunter. However, those losses came seven years ago, and they were back to back defeats.

Perhaps if Forrest fought Hunter and Washington now, he might have a better shot at beating them. Washington looks washed up at this point, so a win for Forrest is entirely possible. But Hunter is still good for Forrest, and that fight would likely have the same outcome as their previous one in 2013.

Other weights on the Takam vs. Forrest card:

• Carlos Castro 123.8 lbs vs. Cesar Juarez 124.4 lbs

• Joshafat Ortiz 130.8 lbs vs. Joshua Orta 132.7 lbs

• Fred Wilson Jr. 159 lbs vs. Donte Stubbs 159.5 lbs

• Peter Cortez 147.5 lbs vs. Corey Champion 147.6 lbs