Though plenty of people felt, after seeing Joe Joyce dropped and decisioned by warhorse and fellow Brit, Derek Chisora, that Joyce should seriously think about hanging up the gloves, the 38 year old has been thrown a possible lifeline of a big and interesting fight.
None other than red-hot British heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma has expressed interest in facing “The Juggernaut” in his next ring outing.
According to Boxing News in the UK, Itauma, 10-0(8) may not box again until December 21st of this year, with him taking a slot on the under card of the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury rematch in Saudi Arabia. And the 19 year old says he’d like to fight Joyce on the night.
“Me and my brother were thinking Joe Joyce would be a good fight,” Itauma told Boxing News. “I feel like it’d be a bit of a Mariusz Wach situation, where people think he’s got a chin, he’s gonna take me somewhere.
That could be a good fight for me – Joe Joyce could be a good fight for me.”
Itauma, last seen blasting out usually durable veteran Wach in a couple of rounds, certainly needs rounds to progress his pro career, and maybe Joyce is the man for the job. But will Joyce look at this fight and feel it is a step backwards for him, too far a step back, the fight offering him no real incentive?
That said, if Joyce were to take Itauma into the deep waters and defeat him, taking his unbeaten record, it would get the 38 year old back in the win column and people would be talking. A Joyce win over Ituama could be compared, at least somewhat, to veteran Carl Thompson’s stoppage win over young upstart David Haye from way back when.
But Joyce could take a beating, and an embarrassing one, from the fast, accurate and powerful hands of Itauma. A loss here, and Joyce would surely have to walk away from the sport. It would be a gamble, for both men, and as a feature on a stacked card in Saudi, maybe this Age Vs. Youth, Young Tiger Vs. Old Lion match up would prove appealing to the fans.
Let’s see if Joyce, 16-3(15) shows any interest in fighting Itauma.
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