Carlos Takam vs Fabio Maldonado Preview Feb. 28th
Heavyweight contender Carlos Takam of Cameroon will be meeting Fabio Maldonado of Sao Paulo, Brazil in a 10-round tilt in Huntington, New York this Friday, February 28th. Maldonado last fought in May when he was stopped in the second round by Michael Hunter for the WBA International Heavyweight Title. Takam last saw action in September when be beat Craig Lewis by a 10-round unanimous decision.
Takam vs Maldonado Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Fabio Maldonado +550
- Carlos Takam -500
My Pick
The 39-year-old Takam fought out of France for awhile and now resides in the USA. He made a name for himself in October of 2017 when he was stopped in 10 rounds by Anthony Joshua in an attempt to wrest the WBA, IBF and IBO belts from him. He was then stopped by Dereck Chisora in the eighth round in his next outing nine months later for the vacant WBA International Heavyweight Title. He’s fought 219 rounds since his pro debut in 2005 and has built up a record of 37-5-1 with 28 Kos.
Takam stands just over 6-feet-1-inch tall with an 80.5-inch reach. He has pretty good power with a current knockout ratio of 65.1 per cent. He was also beaten by Alexander Povetkin by10th-round Ko in 2014, dropped an eight-round unanimous decision to Gregory Tony in 2009 and lost a close 12-round unanimous decision to Joseph Parker in may of 2016. His draw was a 10-round majority decision with Mike Perez in 2014.
Takam has beaten the likes of Senad Gashi, Marcelo Luiz Nascimento, Franz Botha, Michael Sprott, Tony Thompson and Michael Grant. He stopped Marcin Rekowski in the fourth round in 2017 for the vacant IBF Inter-Continental Heavyweight Belt and his unanimous decision over Thompson was for the vacant WBC Silver Heavyweight Title. He stopped Grant in eight rounds for the WBF Heavyweight Strap in 2013, halted Botha in 11 rounds in 2012 for the vacant WBF International Title and is a former WBO African Heavyweight champ.
Maldonado is also 39 years old and he enters the fight with a record of 26-3 with 25 Kos. The first thing fans notice about the Brazilian is his knockout ratio of 86.2 per cent but he’s lost three fights in a row and was stopped by Hunter the last time out. He dropped a 10-round unanimous decision to Oscar Rivas for the NABF Heavyweight title in December, 2018 and then lost a 10-round unanimous decision to Oleksandr Teslenko for the same vacant title last March.
Maldonado turned pro in 2002 and was 23-0 with 22 Kos up until meeting Rivas. However, he hasn’t fought too many upper-class opponents as his wins have been over the likes of Tim Grant, Eduardo Franca, Carlos Barcelete and Clayton Soriano de Lyra (twice). In fact, just nine of his 29 opponents have had winning records and he’s been beaten when stepping up in class. He’s boxed just 71 rounds since making his pro debut and was inactive between July 2010 and February 2016.
Fans may know Maldonado as Caipira de Aco (The Steel Hillbilly) as he’s also competed in mixed martial arts in the UFC and Fight Nights Global. He fights out of Miami, Florida and is listed as 6-feet-1-inch tall, basically the same as Takam. However, with a 75-inch reach he gives up 5.5-inches in that department. He went 40-5 as an amateur boxer with 27 Kos.
Prediction…
Both boxers have plenty of experience and even though they’ve been stopped before they also have pretty good chins. This could be an entertaining bout if they both let their hands go. However, at this stage of their careers Takam is the better boxer and has taken on tougher opponents. Maldonado always has a puncher’s chance due to his power but I think Takam should be able to do enough to pull out a victory here. He keeps busy each round and throws a lot of punches so should be trying to outwork and pressure Maldonado on Friday to keep him on the back foot.
Maldonado has a puncher’s chance.
Play: Takam -500 @ BetOnline.ag
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Carlos Takam betting • Fabio Maldonado betting