Last seen dropping a close decision to Derek Chisora in a highly entertaining fight, Joe Joyce has stated how he is back in training camp and will be back in the ring soon. And though plenty of people called for Joyce’s retirement from the sport (as they have been calling for Chisora’s retirement) after he suffered his third career defeat, “The Juggernaut” is having none of it.
Taking to social media today, the 39 year old with the 16-3(15) record wrote the words: “Count Joe Joyce out at your peril.”
And Joyce has a number of potential fights he could take when he does return. This weekend, we saw Lawrence Okolie box his heavyweight debut, with “The Sauce” taking out Hussein Muhamed in a round, and after the fight Okolie said he would be interested in taking a fight with Joyce, his former Olympic Games team mate, should the fight be offered to him. “I wouldn’t turn it down,” Okolie, 21-1(16) said of a fight with Joyce.
Also this past weekend, unbeaten US heavyweight hope Richard Torrez, who advanced to 12-0(11) with a stoppage win over Issac Munoz Gutierrez, called out Joyce after his latest win.
“The one guy I’ve always called out is Joe Joyce,” Torrez said after his latest win. “That would be the only guy I would call out right now.”
And this too would be an interesting fight. But how much has Joyce got left at this stage of his career? Joyce has only been beaten by two fighters, Chisora and Zhilei Zhang, who stopped Joyce twice in a row. The punishment Joyce took in these three fights, though, forced some people to urge him to call it a career. Joyce is never going to be a world champion, at least this is what most people believe. Joyce was on his way, with him winning the WBO interim title, but Zhang derailed him.
That once seemingly uncrackable chin was cracked and Joyce is now badly in need of a big win if he’s to prove the many doubters wrong. But that’s the beauty of the heavyweight division – one big win and a so-called washed up fighter is right back in the mix.
Can Joyce take on and defeat an Okolie or a Torrez? Or has Joyce and his team got some other fight or fights in mind for when he makes his ring return?
What do YOU think – should Joyce carry on, or should he call it a day, and a career?
