MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 24: Joe Joyce celebrates after defeating Joseph Parker in the Vacant WBO Interim World Heavyweight Championship fight between Joe Joyce and Joseph Parker at AO Arena on September 24, 2022 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Don’t judge a book: Joe Joyce is relentless and dangerous
After watching Joe Joyce stop Bermane Steiverne four years ago, I was hardly impressed. Check out the top boxing odds.
The British announcers talked him up as if he was the second coming (as they’re prone to do). I wondered what the first coming was.
Joyce was slow, plodding, and easy to hit.
But he won very decisively.
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Joyce defeated fringe contender Bryant Jennings in 2019. Jennings, from Philadelphia, had hung in with heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in 2015.
Jennings had been stopped by Oscar Rivas six months before meeting Joyce. Ripe for the picking, as they say. Joyce took some punches and won the fight going away.
Next for Joyce was a fight against undefeated domestic rival Daniel Dubois.
Dubois was favored by as much as 3-1. He looked like the better fighter, but looks don’t win fights.
Joyce, like an older George Foreman, used his jab to set Dubois up. Dubois, younger and quicker, tagged Joyce with several right hands and combinations. Those same blows had felled 15 successive opponents. Joyce took them without blinking.
Dubois did.
Another Joyce jab broke the orbital bone in Dubois’s left eye in round 10. The fight was over. Joyce had been losing for the first time in his professional career, but he never stopped coming forward.
Wins over Carlos Takam and Christian Hammer set in motion last weekend’s fight with Joseph Parker. Like Dubois, Parker appeared to have more skill, but Parker lacks something that Joyce does not.
Stamina and consistency.
Joyce never seems to get tired or hurt.He walked after Parker for 11 rounds – ate big shots, as usual, but kept pumping his jab, right hand, and occasional left hook.
As Parker faded, Joyce became even more relentless.
“It was a tough fight, and praise to Joseph Parker because he’s improved, and he gave me a tough fight,” said Joyce after his 11th round stoppage of Parker. “I really enjoyed it, but it was tough, and I had to dig deep to get through the rounds.
“I hit him with everything I’ve got literally, the kitchen sink, the handbag, everything. I tried it all, but he was still coming forward, game, and I managed to drop him at the end, but it was hard work.”
Parker, who lost for the third time in his career, did well at times against Joyce – landing some hellacious shots, but Joyce’s rugged and relentless style was too much. Parker was asked after the fight where he ranks Joyce.
“Joe Joyce is right at the top,” Parker said to iD Boxing. “The pressure, the punches, the determination just to keep pushing.”
Joyce has recently spoken of fighting WBO, IBF, IBO, and WBA heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
“I think I would start to get to him [if we fight] if I can keep the pressure up,” said Joyce. “He is a very skilful fighter.”
Usyk defeated Joyce nine years ago in an amateur contest.
“It’s over 12 rounds with smaller gloves, and I’ve come a long way since then,” added Joyce. “It takes ten years to reach sporting excellence. I’ve surpassed that, and I’m still learning, so it would be a great fight over 12 rounds.”
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