By Charles Brun: Tyson Fury says Joe Joyce is the #2 heavyweight in the division behind himself following his 11th round knockout victory over Joseph Parker last weekend.
The performance by the 2016 Olympic silver medalist Joyce (15-0, 14 KOs) was a real eye-opener for WBC champion Fury, and he realizes after witnessing what he saw that the ‘Juggernaut’ is the #2 guy in the division behind himself.
Fury he’s not even sure if Joyce can beat him or not, and he’d like to find out. Already, many boxing fans are picking Joyce to defeat Fury, as they feel that his style is all wrong for the ‘Gypsy King,’ who relies on using gimmickry, like leaning & clubbing punches to the back of his opponent’s heads, to win.
Those tactics won’t be enough for Fury to defeat Joyce, who has superior power, higher work rate, greater size, and a better engine. Although Fury is a little taller than the 6’6″ Joyce, he carries a lot of fat and isn’t as solidly built.
“I’ve had a lovely day watching boxing, watching all the big fights, and studying all the heavyweights. I got to say, big Joe Joyce is the second best heavyweight in the world behind myself,” said Tyson Fury on social media.
“On his day, given his moment, who knows if he can beat me or not. I think we’ll have to find out one of these days. I just looked at these prospects and mandatory’s for world titles. Zhang, Hrgovic, and everybody else.
“I’ve changed my mind and think big Joe Joyce is #2 heavyweight in the world. Who knows if he’s #1? One day, we’ll have to find out who’s best out of me and him.
“But at the moment, I’m ruling the roost because I’m a world heavyweight champion, and he’s not. But he’s coming for everybody, don’t you worry about that. Come on, big Joe,” said Fury.
Fury is a belt holder, but that doesn’t mean he’s “ruling the roost,” as he points out. There are a lot of question marks about Fury’s ability to hang with Joyce as well as Usyk.
It’s possible that Fury is the #3 heavyweight behind #1 Joyce and #2 Usyk. We’re going to find out soon enough whether Fury’s placement when he faces Usyk in early 2023.
It looks bad that Fury backed down from his fight with Anthony Joshua on December 3rd.
