British heavyweight contenders are rising in the rankings towards a world title shot as they try to force their way into the future plans of Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury
Thursday 24 December 2020 13:35, UK
Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury hold all the world heavyweight titles, but which British rivals are serious challengers? The Panel have picked out some contenders...
Britain currently dominates the top division as Joshua recently retained the WBA, IBF and WBO belts with a ninth-round knockout of Kubrat Pulev, while Fury became the WBC champion by stopping Deontay Wilder in February.
But which contenders could emerge from the domestic division to challenge for a world title?
I've got to say Joe Joyce. I've seen him sparring hundreds of rounds at the England squad when I was there for the last four, five years of my career, and I've seen him in there with AJ.
He doesn't look capable when he shapes up and lets his shots go, but he's more than capable when he steps in the ring with anyone. We saw that against Daniel Dubois, when everyone was picking Dubois to win. It wasn't really close was it, he bust him up with a jab.
I know he's 35-years-old, but he's fit and strong and full of self-belief.
If you're looking for a new name coming through in 2021, then you've got to say Joe Joyce. Yes, there's younger heavyweights like Fabio Wardley, but I think what Joe Joyce has done, he's proved a lot of people wrong.
He's won the British, Commonwealth and European titles and whether he can win a world title, I'm not 100 per cent sure. But what I do know is he's going to be in some really good fights and I think you can match him with the likes of Derek Chisora, Andy Ruiz Jr, Joseph Parker and Oleksandr Usyk.
There's huge fights out there for Joe Joyce.
Fabio Wardley. If you look at him, you wouldn't give him the credit he deserves, but I've turned into a fan. He's actually a lot better than I thought.
He's got great foot movement, skills and reflexes. He's really slipped under the radar.
I think it's still got to be Dillian Whyte. I know he got knocked out by Alexander Povetkin, but up until that shot, he was boxing really well. In the round previous, he had Povetkin down twice, and I thought he was on his way to probably getting a stoppage win. But that's heavyweight boxing.
Obviously Joe Joyce is coming off a good win over Daniel Dubois. All of a sudden, he puts himself in that mix.
Derek Chisora is also never going to be far away, even though he lost to Oleksandr Usyk, he made him work hard in there.
I would say Fabio Wardley and David Adeleye, I like the look of both of those two. They've made good steady progress.
Wardley was very impressive in his last fight, especially the ending. He's got the charisma and the personality, good style, exciting and he looks heavy-handed. He just needs to gain that experience.
I also like Adeleye's style, a big puncher, and he seems keen to learn as well. He's been going around the gyms, developing.
It's got to be Joe Joyce. He's someone who is going to be consistently underrated, no matter what he does. You look at him and he doesn't really look that special, but he's going to be very difficult for anybody to beat.
Only the real top-level heavyweights will be able to beat him.
Yes, I think he could win a world title, if they fragment in the future. I would love to see Dillian Whyte against Joe Joyce.
