By Charles Brun: Tyson Fury wants to help Joe Joyce prepare for his September 23 rematch with WBO interim heavyweight champion Zhilei Zhang, saying he has a “secret” in defeating him.
(Photo credit: Queensberry)
We already know the secrets Fury would be teaching Joyce, and it could get horrid with the punch, grab & lean style that the Gypsy King’ uses now that he’s gotten prematurely old.
It’s a crazy idea in the first place for Joyce to be taking the rematch with Zhang because he’s overmatched in every department, and there’s nothing that an old slapper, cherry-picking heavyweight like Fury or anyone can teach Joe that will allow him to win.
Fury isn’t saying what the “secret” is that he wants to teach Joyce (15-1, 14 KOs), but in looking at the rabbit punches he used to subdue Deontay Wilder, that could be the grand strategy that he wants to bestow upon him.
In other words, Fury can teach the 6’6″ Joyce to brain Zhang (25-1-1, 20 KOs) with shots to the back of his head to lay him low.
Apart from teaching Joyce how to slap, maul, lean, and rabbit punch Zhang, there’s not much Fury can help him with. His game is just centered around the old grapple & maul.
It’s a waste of time for Joyce to work with Fury unless he’s truly desperate. If Joe uses those tactics, he could end up getting points deducted or disqualified for fouling because a quality referee won’t put up with fouling and contact grabbing after throwing a punch.
Besides, Zhang is too strong to be subdued by leaning, one of the primary tactics the 34-year-old Fury uses to win fights at this late stage of his career.
“Joe, if you want some proper southpaw sparring from someone bigger, quicker, harder puncher than Zhang, please come up to Morecambe and do some sparring with me,” Tyson Fury said on Instagram today, offering to help Joyce.
“It can only improve it. It’ll make it better. I’ve got a secret for you, and I know how to beat Zhang. Chop him down like an old oak tree.”
“Tactics and some stuff in camp needs to be better,” said Joyce to BT Sport Boxing about what he needs to change for his rematch with Zhaang. “I just need to make a few more adjustments. It was a tough pill to swallow, losing my unbeaten record in such a good position in a fight that I didn’t need to take.”
It appears that Joyce didn’t have a clue of how limited a fighter he is because if he had taken a good look at how slow & easy to hit he was, losing to Zhang wouldn’t have been a considerable shock.
“I’m actually taking risks and fighting people, unlike some of the heavyweights. I think if you have a brain and can think, you’ll know who I’m talking about [Fury?],” said Joyce.
“I don’t regret taking the fight. It’s part of the journey of my career. I think. It’s kind of an obstacle that has stopped me in my tracks. It’s something that I’m going to have to rebuild and come out stronger. Hopefully, I can get those opportunities back.
“I watched it back, and it was terrible to watch back, the performance,” Joyce said about his loss to Zhang. “I felt like all the disappointment from my family, my friends and fans. Normally, I’m on the winning end of things, so it was a different feeling.
“It was a tough night to go to the hospital, get checked out and everything. It’s character-building, right? I’ve tasted defeat in the amateurs, so I know what it feels like, and I don’t particularly want it to happen again.
“I felt I could beat him, and I didn’t, and I struggled and looked terrible. It’s very frustrating losing when I felt I could have won. I know I’m better and can do better. I said I was going to beat him, and I wanted to deliver on my word and give people a spectacle and show people I’m the real deal,” said Joyce.
