Joe Joyce will turn professional after boxing at Rio Olympics 2016
Tuesday 24 May 2016 13:42, UK
British super-heavyweight Joe Joyce has confirmed he will turn professional after boxing at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
As an amateur, the 6'6" Londoner has already won gold medals at European and Commonwealth level and a bronze at the 2015 World Championships and will switch to the professional ranks on his return from Brazil.
Joyce told Sky Sports: "I'll be turning 31 after the Olympics so I need to start the pro road before it's too late. I thought about going pro before, but my original goal was to get to the Olympics and I wanted to see that dream through.
"I spar Anthony Joshua and it's good, competitive spars. We work well with each other and then there's Frazer and Daniel Dubois in the mix as well."
Joyce is currently with the British Lionhearts squad preparing for this week's World Series of Boxing semi-final against Kazakhstan at London's York Hall and despite not boxing himself, is positive over the chances of making the final.
"I had two weeks and came back in and did a training camp in Ireland but I didn't feel I was ready for World Series of Boxing," he added.
"Frazer Clarke was more ready than me for the bout. We took the decision with Rob McCracken and Frazer because it's important we win to potentially go to the final.
"A lot of these guys are more experienced than me but the ones who need some guidance then I'll be there for them.
"We've got Galal Yafai [younger brother of professionals Kal and Gamal] and he is so skilful. He's a southpaw, unlike his brothers. He's one of the people I support. He's not been on the squad for long and the same goes for Lawrence Okolie.
"Kazakhstan are a great boxing nation and they're a tough team to beat. We've got a brilliant team though so I'm sure we can go on and get more wins than they do."
Advance tickets for the British Lionhearts v Astana Arlans Kazakhstan on Thursday or Friday are available. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: http://tickets.sky.com/Boxing.
