The 39-year-old “Juggernaut” Joe Joyce is backing up and realigning himself for another drive at glory.
The heavyweight contender is 16-3 (15 KOs) and meets Germany’s Patrick Korte on Saturday at the Bournemouth International Centre, trying to find form and shed rust ahead of his bout on April 5 with Dillian Whyte in Manchester, also in England.
It was in July 2024 when Joyce was outlasted over 10 rounds, in a violent slugfest, by Derek Chisora. He was dropped in the ninth round and defeated on the cards.
He has reached a position where he needs to be the force he was until he twice ran into the heavy hands of Zhilei Zhang in two fights that appear to have ended his time at the top table.
“I still believe I’ve got what it takes and I’m ready to come back in style,” Joyce told BoxingScene. “And there’s more still to do.”
A big win, and he knows he will be back in the mix.
“That’s how boxing works and that’s how it’s always worked,” he continued.
Asked whether he felt his window for big fights is slowly closing, he replied: “That’s only your opinion, that’s not my opinion. I don’t feel that. I’m just ready to get back in there and get in some fights. I’ve still got more to do.
“I’m not retiring yet, obviously. Boxing is a business and it’s my job, so it’s what I’m going to do.”
The Chisora bout was rough and brutal. It was a wild and a free-swinging affair almost all the way through.
“It was a good fight – I hope people enjoyed it,” Joyce said. “But that was last year. I’m looking ahead to the future and this year and it will be good to get into some good fights and start the year off the 1st of March and go on from there. The aim is to get back in the mix.”
Joyce said he still has passion and ambition, and he has been linked with a number of opponents. Korte, 40, will come first, then he faces a dangerous fight with Whyte.
“I’ve got some names that I’d like to fight, but it’s whatever’s the quickest route back in,” he said, of his targets.
How about Anthony Joshua, whom he followed as Team GB’s Olympic super-heavyweight representative?
Deontay Wilder, who earned a medal in the Games before Joshua?
“There’s a lot of options. I’m game.”
And then there is Frazer Clarke, the super heavyweight who followed Joyce in 2020 and returns from his own loss later in April. Joyce defeated Clarke several times in the amateurs, and while Joyce had not heard the rumors of them possibly renewing hostilities, it is something he remains open to.
“I haven’t heard about that,” he added. “I beat him four times in the amateurs. If that’s what people want to see and the money’s right, that’s an option. Fabio [Wardley] is an option. There are a lot of good options and I aim to put on entertaining fights.”
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, is on The Ring ratings panel and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.
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