Joe Joyce vs. Oleksandr Usyk? ‘Juggernaut’ plans to advance to WBO Heavyweight Title | Boxing News

Joe Joyce targets Oleksandr Usyk, who has been warned that “against the real greats he will take off”.

Joyce beat Daniel Dubois by inflicting a fractured orbital bone in a 10th round stoppage in Saturday’s fight between previously undefeated heavyweight contenders, and is now seeking a WBO title shot.

Anthony Joshua defends IBF, WBA and WBO belts against Kubrat Pulev on December 12, live Sky Sports ticket office, and he wants to fight WBC champion Tyson Fury in 2021, but he also has to compete with Usyk as a mandatory challenger.

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“Joe wants Usyk for the WBO belt,” Joyce manager Sam Jones said. Sky sports.

If Joshua doesn’t leave, he must fight Usyk.

“I hope Joshua is vacant and we fight Usyk – Joe is also very confident in this fight.

“No wonder Joe should be Dubois # 2 [in the WBO rankings].

“If the belt is vacant Usyk would have to fight Joe for the title.

“It’s a great fight, an intriguing fight, Usyk is a brilliant character and an incredible fighter that Joe admires.”

Promoter Eddie Hearn said on Monday he could strike a deal to do Joyce against Usyk.

Usyk co-promoter Alexander Krassyuk, who works alongside Hearn, later told him Sky sports: “The point is, the WBO belt is owned by Joshua. And unless [he doesn’t keep it] Usyk shows AJ “.

But Joyce insisted on Sky sports: “I want to win a world heavyweight title.

Derek Chisora ​​made a brave effort but Usyk’s skills were better. Against me? It would be a different story.

“It would be a mental battle but also a physical one because he would have a large ‘Juggernaut’ approaching him for 12 rounds.”

Usyk beat Joyce in an amateur fight in 2013, just five years after the Briton’s career and he believes the outcome would be different with the two now in their prime.

“He was very quick and nimble, and he was above me in terms of ability,” Joyce recalls from their first meeting.

“Being a light and agile southpaw he has a lot of footwork. He caught up to me with punches that had a puncture but weren’t strong enough to worry me. At this point, I tried to take one to land two.

His manager Jones added, “Usyk won but, if you look at the fight, Joe was always involved. Joe was rude and inexperienced at the time, and Usyk was too knowledgeable.

Joe had never faced a southpaw in his life before fighting Usyk!

“Joe is much taller than [Usyk’s most recent opponent] Derek Chisora ​​and throws a lot more punches.

Joe would be ruled out again and he would jump into this fight again as a big loser, but we’re very confident he could take down Usyk.

“Usyk is a genius, I love to see him, he is arguably the greatest cruiserweight of all time. But against the real grown-ups it will take off ”.

And Joe is a very big boy, and Usyk is going to take off.

Olympic silver medalist Joyce is a new addition to the mix of world titles after interrupting Dubois, 23’s prodigious rise this weekend.

“Joe would fight absolutely anyone,” Jones said.

“Tony Yoka [who beat Joyce in the 2016 Olympic final] he called Joe, which is ridiculous because he didn’t do anything to deserve it.

But it’s good to be in a position where people come from under the floor and suddenly want to fight Joe.

“We are now in a very, very good position.

Joshua and Fury are the two kings of the division. It would be special to fight Fury or Joshua; we would fight well, everyone agrees that these are the two bosses.

How Joyce destroyed Dubois

“I was surprised the jab landed so well throughout the fight,” Joyce said.

“I took photos.

I thought he would be able to throw more combinations because he was tired, but he was still there with me. It was still dangerous.

“I could only use the jab to keep myself out of harm’s way, so I stuck to that.

“He hits hard, especially in the first three or four laps. There were a few heavy hits that I had to avoid.

“I had to make him respect my power too because I didn’t want him to advance by taking the mick!”

“I heard him breathe all the time, and after the third round, when he threw a big volley, I knew he couldn’t follow me.

I wanted to prove a point by knocking him out.

I thought they could have thrown in the towel. It only went one way: I had taken my best shots, calculated what I could do, and pulled off my shots comfortably.

I didn’t think I would go to points. I wanted to knock him out. If I had seen an opportunity I would have gone, but I stuck with what worked.