By Barry Holbrook: Joe Joyce says he believes promoter Eddie Hearn is looking to cash out Anthony Joshua by throwing him in with a still-to-be-determined dangerous opponent in December.
It’s thought that Hearn will set up a fight between Joshua and either WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury or former WBC champion Deontay Wilder in December.
Based on how AJ looked in the last fight against Jermaine Franklin, he’ll likely lose badly against Wilder or Fury. Hence, Joyce believes Hearn is cashing Joshua out to get the money from those two fights while he still can before he’s no longer a marketable fighter.
Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs) has shown no improvement with his new trainer Derrick James, and if anything, he looks worse than he was with Robert Garcia and Rob McCracken.
Hearn cashing out Joshua
“I think Eddie Hearn and his team are cashing out, and he’s ripe for the picking,” said Joe Joyce to iFL TV about Anthony Joshua.
“I noticed after the [Jermaine Franklin] fight, he wasn’t calling my name out, so he must have been advised not to. I’ve had enough of Joshua. He’s only mentioned my name now. He’s on the road to rebuild and find his mojo.
“I thought he was going to go in and take him out,” Joyce said about Joshua’s fight with Franklin. “Joshua is heavy-handed, so I thought he was going to put it on him, but maybe it’s the next fight, he’s going to turn it on.
“Yeah, I’d have done a job on both,” said Joyce about his belief that he’d have beaten Joshua and Jermaine Franklin. “I would have,” said Joyce about him beating Joshua and Franklin.
Joe expects Zhang to be dangerous early
“It’s tough because he’s a southpaw, and it’s going to be tricky,” said Joyce about Zhilei Zhang. “I might have to eat some shots, but I don’t want to, and it’s going to be exciting. He’s probably going to test my chin, but I’m going to be testing his.
“I’m going to be firing back as usual and throwing lots of punches and soaking up punishment as I do. I think I’m going to have to be switched on early on because that’s when he’s going to be most dangerous and have the most in the gas tank.
“I’ve got all these great fights coming up. There are plenty of good names to go for. He’s [Zhang] got that amateur pedigree. He’s an Olympic silver medalist. I found out that he fought Joshua in London. I forgot about that one, and he just fought Filip Hrgovic.
“That’s a quite similar style as my own. So he’s in a better place than me going in here because he’s had the practice of fighting Hrgovic. It’s risky.
“The sparring has been quite helpful to get ready for Zhang, especially for the likes of Fury & Usyk. I’m going to need to have been in with a good southpaw. That’s where Zhilei Zhang comes in.
“Yeah, they think I’m just a big walking chin, but I also have an engine, I have a great amateur pedigree, my footwork, my timing. I throw a lot of punches per round as well, and I’m an exciting fighter.
Joyce predicts Usyk beats Dubois
“Alright, then why did he take a knee for his eye?” said Joyce when told that Daniel Dubois said that he didn’t get beat him up badly in their fight in their fight in 2020.
“Dubois talks a lot of s**t, so he needs to hush down. He’s got a good shot, but let’s have that fight if it presents itself. Oleksandr Usyk is going to dance rings around him. He’s not going to be able to hit him, and I believe he gets him out of there,” said Joyce when asked for his prediction on the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Dubois fight.
