Anthony Joshua has been told Joe Joyce would shatter his "porcelain" chin despite his loss to Zhilei Zhang.
Joyce was looking to retain his WBO interim title this weekend in a risky fight against Chinese contender Zhang in London, and he came unstuck after being stopped within six rounds following a brutal eye injury. Prior to the meeting, 'The Juggernaut' had repeatedly called out 'AJ' and suggested he would be willing to stage a fight providing he progressed.
Joshua had himself suggested he would be open to the showdown after his recent win over Jermaine Franklin, which Joyce had been extremely critical of in the build-up to his own appearance. Despite the Briton falling to his first career defeat, trainer Teddy Atlas offered a brutal verdict on how Joshua would fare against his domestic rival.
He tweeted: "Silver lining in every dark cloud, and for Joyce it might be that this poor performance will now entice Joshua to fight him." He then added: "“And if it does, you never know, if Joyce lands a right hand on that at times porcelain chin of Joshua, could be broken dishes.”
This is not the first piece of criticism to come towards Joshua from Atlas in relation to Joshua having delivered a surprisingly one-sided prediction last year if the pair ever fought. “Joe Joyce could wind up fighting the winner of Usyk and Joshua,” he said on his podcast The Fight last year. If he [Joshua] fights [Joe] Joyce, he is getting knocked out. This man Joyce, is too big, too strong and too tough for Joshua.
"He’s [Joshua] done great things, but he’s not hungry. Like the great Marvin Hagler would say, maybe he’s been sleeping in silk sheets too much now. It’s hard to sleep in silk sheets and still get up at 5am in the morning, and do rope work and then get in the ring with another man, who is trying to destroy you."
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“You’re never going to have to worry about that, my beloved friends over there [in the U.K.], because Joshua would never get in the ring with him [Joyce]. That’s not a knock on him [Joshua], he’s a smart guy. Joshua knows his limitations now, so he ain’t getting in there with Joyce.”
Joshua has indeed entertained a fight with Joyce despite his recent comments and previously suggested he would be open to making the fight in the summer. Despite back-to-back losses against Oleksandr Usyk, 'AJ' is trying to rebuild his heavyweight career and get back on the march into title contention.
His immediate plan remains unclear after announcing he may not return until December in a potential mega-fight with either Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury. However a potential sequel with rival Dillian Whyte remains on the cards particularly if a fight of big magnitude in the Middle East fails to materialise.
