Joe Joyce to fight on Deontay Wilder’s undercard in May

By Boxing News - 03/01/2019 - Comments

Image: Joe Joyce to fight on Deontay Wilder's undercard in May

By Jim Dower: Heavyweight contender Joe Joyce (8-0, 8 KOs) will be getting a prime spot in fighting on the undercard of WBC heavyweight champion Deontay ‘Bronze Bomber’ Wilder’s next fight in mid-May against an opponent still to be determined, according to ESPN.

Joyce, 33, will be eventually challenging for the WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight title against the winner of the Manuel Charr vs. Trevor Bryan fight. Those two still don’t have a date for their fight, but it’s expected to happen soon. #5 WBA Joyce just needs to win his fight in May, and he’ll be ready to take on the Charr-Bryan winner.

2016 Olympic super heavyweight Silver medalist from Great Britain Joyce is coming off of a highly impressive sixth round knockout victory over former World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Bermane ‘B.Ware’ Stiverne (25-4-1, 21 KOs) last month on February 23 at the O2 Arena in London, England.

The heavy-handed Joyce, who his trainer Abel Sanchez compares to a young George Foreman, knocked the 40-year-old Stiverne down in the third round, and then continue to chop away at him with big sledgehammer blow until the referee Howard John Foster was forced to step in and halt the fight at 2:20 of round six. Stiverne was out on his feet, and badly in need of saving at the time the referee stopped the massacre.

This won’t be the first time that the 6’6″ 265 pound Joyce has fought on one of Deontay Wilder’s undercards. He fought Joe Hanks (23-3, 15 KOs) on the undercard of Wilder vs. Tyson Fury on December 1 on SHOWTIME PPV at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Joyce blasted the 35-year-old Hanks out in dropping him in the first round, and forcing a stoppage at 2:25 of the round. It was an impressive performance by the big punching Joyce.

Although Joyce’s trainer Abel Sanchez likes to compare him to a young George Foreman, he’s really a lot older than people think. Joyce is 33, and he’s got to have his career pushed at light speed by his promoters at Ringsports if he’s to make a dent on the heavyweight division before he ages out in the not too distant future. Joyce spent too much time in the amateur ranks, and now that’s forced his management to move him a lot quicker than they would a normal fighter.

One of the problems that fighters have, regardless of their age, is it takes a long time before the management for the highly ranked fighter and champions want to setup fights against them. Joyce appears to be a very good fighter, but the champions Anthony Joshua and Wilder aren’t going to do him favors out of sympathy due to his advanced age. They’re going to do their thing, and if they’re eventually forced to fight him or if he ever becomes popular, then they’ll look his way for a fight. Until then, Joyce is going to have to blaze hi own trail, and hope that he can win the WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight title so that he can have that going for him at least. The boxing fans will jump on the Joyce wagon eventually if he keeps winning long enough.

For Joyce’s sake, they need to put him in with someone better than Stiverne and Hanks. Trainer Abel Sanchez felt that Stiverne was a great option, but he looked bad in the fight, as well as in his previous match a year ago against Wilder. Joyce is ready to step up and fight guys like Adam Kownacki, Dillian Whyte, Kubrat Pulev, Charles Martin, Dominic Breazeale, Carlos Takam, Dereck Chisora and Filip Hrgovic. Getting the management for those fighters to agree to put them in with Joyce may prove to be impossible. They’re unlikely to let Joyce anywhere near their fighters.