Joyce beats Takam to keep heavyweight title ambitions on course

Joe Joyce kept his heavyweight title ambitions on track with a sixth-round stoppage against Carlos Takam at Wembley Arena on Saturday.

The 35-year-old secured his latest win against former challenger Takam to stretch his unbeaten record to 13 fights, including 12 knockouts.

As the WBO's mandatory challenger, Joyce will now have a keen eye on the outcome of September's bout between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk.

"What I want is AJ or Usyk. I'm ready now and don't need any more tests," he told BT Sport.

Joyce absorbed pressure from Takam in the early rounds before a barrage of punches in the fourth put him in control of the contest.

A powerful left hook from Joyce at the start of the sixth startled Takam and the referee intervened with the Frenchman increasingly unsteady on his feet.

The Juggernaut got him going and didn't let him off the hook @JoeJoyceBoxing stopped @carlos_takam in the sixth and will have his eyes on the winner of #JoshuaUsyk pic.twitter.com/PCaJac6EU7

— Boxing on BT Sport (@BTSportBoxing) July 24, 2021

"He is still dangerous, so I had to take my opportunity when I got it," Joyce added.

"He did mildly hurt me, I had to use the sweet science of boxing such as movement and feints to get the performance done.

"He didn't say anything about the stoppage, he is a warrior. It was a very tough fight, so my respect to him.

"I will go back in the gym and watch my fights back, analyse my performance and work on my mistakes, like when I got caught with silly shots."