Anthony Joshua is a huge favourite going into Saturday’s world heavyweight title defense against Carlos Takam but the Englishman is readying himself for a long hard battle.
Joshua only discovered that he would be fighting Takam last week, after his original opponent Kubrat Pulev pulled out with a shoulder injury.
The undefeated boxing superstar is widely expected to knock out Cameroonian Takam in Cardiff but he insists it won’t be an easy night for him.
‘He is durable. He will become more durable because he’ll be in hostile territory,’ Joshua told Sky Sports.
‘When you come into that type of environment, what have you got to lose? He’ll say: ‘I’ll give it my all’.
‘People have said: ‘Josh, what round? What round?’ I think we’re going for a 10 to 12 round fight because this guy’s head is like a block of cement.’
It took Joshua 11 rounds to finish Wladimir Klitschko in his last outing but only two of his 18 opponents before the Ukrainian managed to make it past the third round.
AJ’s former rival Dillian Whyte is not convinced late replacement Takam poses anything in terms of a threat to Joshua.
‘Takam isn’t strong enough to cause him problems.’ he said. ‘He’s good, but a little too small. He’ll spend his whole night running into uppercuts and right hands.
