Joe Joyce believes that Anthony Joshua should be clamouring to fight him next: "I was always trying to catch up with him but now I've overtaken him!"; Joyce is a highly-ranked world title contender and currently holds an Interim belt with the WBO
Wednesday 5 April 2023 18:47, UK
Joe Joyce, one of the leading contenders in the heavyweight division, is adamant that Anthony Joshua would not last the distance in a fight with him.
Joyce was unimpressed with Joshua's effort against Jermaine Franklin last weekend, a 12-round bout that the former champion won by unanimous decision.
"I'd knock both of them out with their performance the other night. I'd definitely force a stoppage on Franklin and Joshua's ripe for the picking," Joyce told Sky Sports.
"Not great but [Joshua] got the job done. He went 12 rounds, I thought he would come with some more firepower and aim to push a stoppage but he wasn't really putting shots together. He was [using] single shots and boxed kind of like he did in the [Andy] Ruiz second fight. So it was a little bit disappointing.
"He seems to have gone, in my opinion, a bit backwards. Hasn't progressed. I think he lacked the combinations but I think Franklin was a tough guy."
Joyce thinks that Joshua should be clamouring to fight him. Putney's Joyce is highly ranked and will be the mandatory for the WBO world champion. He already holds a WBO Interim heavyweight title.
"That would be his route back in," Joyce said.
"It would definitely be his way back in because I'm in front of him now, at last, high up the rankings and obviously got the WBO Interim.
"I was always trying to catch up with him but now I've overtaken him, so that's good. That's what I wanted. But I haven't caught up to him financially yet so I need to have those big fights!"
Joyce however does expect Joshua to go in another direction and target a potential rematch with Dillian Whyte.
"I'm a threat and he would prefer that [Whyte fight] until he's got his mojo back," Joyce said.
"I'd like to see him against Dillian Whyte, because I think Dillian Whyte's in the same situation. He didn't really look too great in the last fight," he acknowledged.
"So it would be good to see who the better man is and obviously they've got past bad blood. I think the fans would get behind that fight. It would be a good fight."
