By Jim Maltzman: Negotiations are moving along for an interesting heavyweight fight between Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce for April 18 in London, England. With 3 months to go before April, there’s already a great deal of fan interest in the Dubois vs. Joyce fight, and it’s hoped that their promoters can get the fight done.
The management or the two giant unbeaten heavyweights still need to sort out the money, according to Mike Coppinger. The winner of the Dubois-Joyce fight could in position to get a world title shot against one of the heavyweight champions. WBC champion Deontay Wilder has already said he has a lot of spect for the 22-year-old Dubois (14-0, 13 KOs), and he views him as a guy on the rise.
Joyce’s advanced age of 34 makes it necessary for him to win this fight for him to keep line for a world title shot before he ages out. The younger Dubois is in a better position with less to lose if he gets beaten by Joyce, but obviously he still doesn’t want to get beat. But if the 6’5″ Dubois does come out the loser, it won’t be the end of the world for him.
Joe Joyce could take tune-up on Wilder-Fury 2 card
Joyce, 34, could take a tune-up level match next month on February 22 on the Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury rematch. It would be for visibility purposes, since there’s going to be a lot of boxing fans watching. It’s a great opportunity for the 2016 Olympic silver medalist Joyce (10-0, 9 KOs) be seen by a lot of new boxing fans.
The 6’6″ Joyce will need to make sure he stops his February 22 opponent as quickly as possible to avoid getting nicked up or injured, which would jeopardize his April 18 fight with Dubois. However, even the safest fight has the potential for injury, but Joyce might be willing to take that risk. The exposure that he gets fighting on the Wilder vs. Fury 2 card is priceless.
Sources: Talks progressing toward a heavyweight tilt between Daniel DuBois and Joe Joyce earmarked for April 18 in London. No agreement on money yet. Big-time British heavyweight fight, and the winner would be lined up for a title shot in near future
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) January 15, 2020
Joyce’s high pace fighting style could be problem for Dubois
The fast pace that Joyce likes to fight at could prove to be a nightmare for Dubois, who has knocked out most of his opponents in the early rounds. Although Dubois has an excellent jab, he’s not likely to be able to hold off Joyce with that. If Dubois is going to win this fight, he’ll need to do it in the trenches at close range, because that’s what’s where Joyce will be. The strong chin that Joyce has means he’ll probably stick around a lot longer than the majority of Dubois’ opponents.
Dubois has gone the distance only once in his career and that was against journeyman Kevin ‘Kingpin’ Johnson in a 10 round fight in 2018. The 38-year-old Johnson used his jab to keep Dubois from landing his big shots, and he wore the young fighter down a little in the later rounds.
Dubois looked frustrated at times, and that’s obviously a bad sign. Johnson has been knocked out by Petar Milas, Martin Bakole and Anthony Joshua in his career. Dubois never had him seriously hurt despite trying hard to get him out of there.
Joyce doesn’t possess a great job like ‘Kingpin’ Johnson though, and it might prove difficult for him to live on the outside with Dubois. As things go, it’s unlikely that Joyce will even try to fight Dubois on the outside, due to his lack of a good jab. Joyce is better when he crowds his opponents, and mauls them on the inside with his high volume arm punches.