He's a decorated amateur and an Olympic silver medalist, but as a pro, what kind of a threat does Joe Joyce pose to the heavyweight Champions?
On November 27, Joe Joyce puts his 11-0 unbeaten record on the line against 15-0 knockout artist, Daniel Dubois, in a fight that will see the winner announce himself to those at the very top of the division.
Joyce is the underdog with bookies and fans despite having achieved more in the sport, having fought better competition, and having a KO percentage to match Dubois'. The general school of thought, at least on social media, is that there is a ceiling to what Joyce can achieve in the sport and that he'll find that ceiling in Dubois.
Many believe that Dubois will be too accurate, and too powerful for Joyce to walk through as he has every other opponent so far in the pro ranks. That might be true - Joyce's defence isn't the best. He takes a lot of shots to get his own off, and against a man like Dubois, that could be a disastrous tactic. On the other hand, Joyce has an excellent chin, and if he can stand up to Dubois' power, the question then becomes 'how does Dubois deal with Joe's relentless work rate and constant clubbing punches?'
Joyce may not have the one-punch knockout power of Dubois, but he is heavy-handed and has an incredible engine - if he can get near Dubois, he is absolutely capable of breaking him down.
Depending on who emerges victorious, we'll likely see different narratives develop around the winner and his future. Already touted as a future champion, a win for Dubois would see him praised further as the next big thing, and rightly so. For Joyce though, would a win over Dubois be just another achievement that gets lost in criticism? His detractors say he is too slow and one-dimensional, and that he defends with his chin. They say he poses no threat to the likes of AJ or Fury. Indeed, Joyce doesn't have the fastest hands, and will never move like a Fury, yet a look at his record suggests he is more than capable of mixing at that level.
In Joyce's first pro fight, he took less time to stop Ian Lewison than did Dillian Whyte in his 20th fight! Just let that sink in. Dillian Whyte - the man who just a few months ago was one of the division's top contenders, took ten rounds to deal with Ian Lewison in fight number 20, while Joyce, in fight number one, did the job in eight.
In fight number eight, Joyce knocked out Bermayne Stiverne, a man who before being KO'd by Joyce, was last seen challenging for a World title (albeit a challenge that lasted less than 3 minutes). In fight ten, Joyce won a unanimous decision against Bryant Jennings - an experienced former world title challenger who has been in with the very best. Ordinarily, a win over Jennings might not seem so impressive, but if you take a look at the level of opponent Joshua or Fury fought in fight number ten, you might find a little more respect for Joe Joyce.
Joyce's success thus far in the pro ranks shouldn't come as a shock - In the World Series of Boxing, he fought Oleksandr Usyk, a man that would go on to become undisputed at cruiserweight, and is now considered one of the top competitors at heavyweight. Usyk won that fight convincingly, but it went the full 5 round distance, and Joyce asked questions of the Ukrainian - not a bad effort for a man whose ability to cope with quick fighters is often brought into question.
The World Series of Boxing also saw Joyce go up against Filip Hrgović - a man who, like Daniel Dubois, is being hailed as a future star of the heavyweight division. Joyce beat Hrgović, and he also landed himself a higher spot on the podium at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Yet Hrgović is the man that the champions should be keeping an eye on?
Joyce faces Filip Hrgović at the AIBA World Boxing Championships Doha 2015
While we're on the subject of the Olympics, we would be remiss not to mention Joyce's final with yet another 'future star', Tony Yoka. Yoka got the nod in that one, taking the gold medal and leaving Joyce with Silver, but many watching, including myself, thought Joyce should have been coming home with the Gold. Had those been three pro-rounds, where more attention is paid to body punches when scoring, Joyce would almost certainly have emerged the winner.
Considering everything we've just looked at, why isn't the entire heavyweight division on alert? Why aren't alarm bells ringing every time Joyce steamrolls another decent fighter? Perhaps it's his age. Perhaps people believe that at 35 years old Joyce doesn't have the time left in the sport to get the fights that would see him reach the top. If that's the case, we have to remind you that heavyweights tend to peak far later than those in the lighter divisions. If he wants it, he could have a good few years left.
More likely though, it's his style that people struggle to get on board with - Joyce does take more punches than you'd like to see, particularly at heavyweight, but up to now, what he's been doing has worked, so who are we to say he needs to change?
The great thing about the Dubois fight is that it will tell us exactly how good the winner really is. If Dubois wins, he beats the man who achieved everything we just discussed in this article. If Joyce wins, he proves yet again that he belongs in there with the young, athletic, knockout-artists like Dubois, Hrgović and Yoka, and perhaps then those alarm bells might start ringing for the boys at the top.
If you enjoyed this post please consider sharing it. We want to keep our content free for for everyone and your shares help us do this. Thanks for you support.
Have an opinion? Leave a comment...
Joseph Bowden
21 May, 2021
THE TOP HEAVYWEIGHTS ARE AFRAID TO FACE JOE JOYCE THEREFORE THEY WILL NOT VOLUNTEER TOFACE HIM?
Your comment could not be submitted. Please check that you have answered the 'I am not a robot' question correctly. To submit comments instantly create a free account.
Logged Out
You have been signed out from your account.
Thank you
Your vote has been recieved.
Success
Your profile has been updated.
Error
There seems to have been an error. Please try again. If the problem continues email support@boxingfocus.com
Caution
You are about to delete your account. If you continue we will permanently delete your data including any comments that you have made on our posts. Are you sure you want to continue?
Account deleted
Your account has been deleted. If you were subscribed to our newsletter you will no longer recieve this.
You can create a new account at any time. To subscribe to the news letter without creating a new account, please click here.
User not found
We were unable to sign you in. Please try again.
Error
Never miss a thing!
Sign up to recieve monthly round-ups from Boxing Focus straight to your inbox!
You have been added to our mailing list. You should recieve a welcome email shortly. If not, please check your junk folder and add us to your contacts so that future emails get directed straight to your inbox.
Thanks for joining Boxing Focus!
Email address already exists
It looks like you're already subscribed with that email address. If you haven't been recieving the news letter please check your junk folder. For further assistance contact support@boxingfocus.com.
Thank you
Your cookie preferences have been saved. We will ask you to confirm this again in 30 days.
If at any time you wish to disable cookies please see the 'Managing Cookies' section of our cookie policy where you can learn how to prevent this website from setting cookies in your browser.
Have an opinion? Leave a comment...