Joe Joyce has given his view on Anthony Joshua as they prepare for their respective fights this summer. Joyce is the defending WBC Silver and WBO International heavyweight champion and fights against Christian Hammer next month, meanwhile, Joshua will have a rematch against Oleksandr Usyk in August.
Joyce could be lining up a world championship fight against either Tyson Fury or the winner of the rematch between Joshua and Usyk. Fury has been linked with a fight against the Olympic silver medallist by Bob Arum in recent days, but his opponent could well be Joshua and he has made some comments about AJ recently when speaking with the Sun.
Joyce said: “If by some miracle Joshua beats Usyk, he will have to face me or vacate the belt. His chin has gone and I don’t think his heart is fully in the game any more - he’s a businessman more interested in lecturing students.”
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He went on to talk about Tyson Fury and the respect he has for the WBC champion, “I agree with him on one thing: None of the others stand a chance against him." He added. "I am the only one that can beat him if he ever took the challenge.”
Joyce is not the biggest name in the division just yet and will have to earn his place alongside Joshua, Fury and Usyk, with the latter holding unified WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles ahead of his rematch with the former champion Joshua.
That fight will take place in August at the Jeddah Super Dome, with the 40,000 capacity stadium having already hosted WWE Elimination Chamber in February. It will not be the first time that Joshua has fought in the country, having won his rematch against Andy Ruiz there in 2019.
Talking about the fight, promoter Eddie Hearn has said that Joshua should not overthink the fight, telling Sporting News Australia : "He’s got to be himself and not overthink things too technically and start boxing." He added. "He’s got to go in and use his attributes. He has tremendous speed and great power. He has to bust Usyk up."
“It’s not just about being reckless and diving in. But he’s got to be smart, cut off the ring, and when he has any chance, let him have it." He continued. “Usyk will not be able to stand up to the power of Anthony Joshua if he continually puts pressure on him.
"But that first half of the fight is going to be really important that he can either get him out of there or put a nice dent in him to slow him down and take him out of his rhythm."
