You really can’t blame Joe Joyce for not wanting to retire just yet. Joyce, who is coming off a close decision loss to Derek Chisora in what was, after all, a great action fight, has heard the calls for his retirement but he says he’s not listening. Joyce, who spoke on the Queensbury Promotions podcast, said he will call it a day when he’s ready to do so. Right now, Joyce is sat there knowing he is the only man to have beaten both Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker. These two will of course soon slug it out for the IBF heavyweight belt that is currently the property of Dubois, so no wonder Joyce sees a way back to the top for himself.
Dubois, if he wins, may well want the opportunity to try to avenge his first pro loss, while Parker, if he wins on February 22, may well want the opportunity to try to avenge his sole stoppage loss. So Joyce carries on. The comeback fight will take place in March, and after that, Joyce says, he will get busy “building my way back into the big fights.”
Joyce, who still has no official announced opponent for his March return, says he will “start the year off with a bang.” After that, if he can string together a couple or three good wins, who knows, maybe “The Juggernaut” will roll again at world title level.
“It’s a good fight, I’m excited to see it,” Joyce said of the upcoming Dubois-Parker fight. “And then, potentially I’ll fight the winner. There’s a title on the line, so I’m gonna build my way back into the big fights. [Have I still got the beating of Dubois?] Let’s see. Yeah, he impressed me [in the Joshua fight]. I thought Joshua was a bit open but it was a firefight and Dubois won. But that’s enough about them – I’ve got more to give the sport and plenty of entertaining nights to have. So I’m excited to continue my journey. This is a good year, I need to focus on this fight coming up, start the year with a bang, and then focus on the other ones.”
It’s likely most fans will feel Joyce has very little chance of ever becoming a world champion now, although he did come close before he ran into Zhilei Zhang two times. But Joyce is without doubt a guy to root for, and on his night the 39 year old with the 16-3(15) record is an exciting, great action fighter to tune in to watch. There are concerns about Joyce’s long-term health, and these concerns will only grow if Joyce struggles in any of his upcoming fights, but the warrior heart still burns inside Joyce, and all we can do is wish him well.
Joyce beat Dubois back in 2020, and he stopped Parker in 2022. Joyce says he’s “as hungry as ever.” Can he repeat either win if he’s afforded to opportunity to try and do so? What an amazing story it really would be if Joyce, at the age of 39 or 40, managed to become a world heavyweight champion so late in his career.
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