Joe Joyce insists he's ready for Oleksandr Usyk eight years on from "naive" defeat

Interesting he wasnt drained at 200 even though he routinely walked into the ring at 215+. Just lmao at "packed on 25+ pounds". Absolutely delusional.

Also interesting that you call my knowledge into question because I don't see a man who naturally weighs 215 pounds with a 6 pack isnt big enough to be a heavyweight when I've been watching pro boxing for 30+ years and I've only started hearing this nonsense about "natural cruisers" being close to 220 pounds in the ring for about the past 10 years and mostly on online forums from posters who will do anything and everything to convince themselves that their favorite fighters are all time greats whether or not their careers warrant it.

 

Example for " natural cruiser " : Lerena. approx 220 lber. Size like Liston had.
Ali in 60 ies was approx 215 lber.

 

You beat me to it, but these guys like to make things up to justify their idiocy. Usyk was a comfortable Cruiserweight and could have stayed there without starving himself. He’s a small HW by modern day standards, compared to top guys like AJ and Fury.

Some of the comments in this thread are laughable. The guy who said Usyk was a HW all along, as if he was a weight bully at cruiser is a moron. He’s fighting HW for the money. It’s yet to be determined how well he will do against the giants but he’s at a size disadvantage (natural weight, not height) against most HWs. It’s interesting to see if his skill will allow him to beat the bigger guys at the top but if any blown up cruiser can do it, it’s probably Usyk.

 

Joyce's chin Is underrated but I pick Usyk for decision.

 

lol he’s gonna take it just how he took a first fight.

 

Usyk is everything Dubois isn't with his skill, ring IQ, and movement. Joyce showed that Dubois didn't have enough power or anything else to compensate for that.

Joyce should get this level of fight for beating Dubois but I don't see Usyk walking into the same jab over and over again until his orbital bone breaks.

I think this is one worth making but strongly favor Usyk even disregarding what happened years ago (I don't think that counts for much at this point).

 

It's been a while since that fight, but they weren't teens either. I only somewhat remember it but just going off memory Usyk handled him easily. I don't see what Joyce has improved since then, to such a degree that it would give him a chance vs a guy who beat him in a 5 rounder despite being a notorious slow-starter.

 

We'll see

 

Joyce is ready for Usyk like I'm ready to be the Queen of England.

 

Amateurs to pros. 8 years... Totally different world. Favor Usyk, though.

 

I thought Joyce did pretty good when he fought Usyk the first time considering Joyce had only been boxing for 5 years. I think he has closed the gap skill wise with Usyk and he should make for a tough nights work. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Joyce were to win it by late ko.

 

The beauty of boxing, versus petty internet keyboard battles, is that we will have our answer. I’m glad Joyce thinks he’s ready. I hope Usyk feels the same way and they give fans a good fight. I hope the winner is decided in the ring and not by corrupt judges. If Joyce wins, he’s the better fighter. He’s not the better fighter and will probably not win but that’s what makes boxing great. Anything is possible.

 

I have a hard time predicting this fight.

I'm well aware of what happened in the first fight in the WSB but that was many years ago now, and was fought over five rounds. Since then both men have been through a couple of wars and become seasoned professional veterans but they've also lost some of their youthful zip. In Joyce's case this isn't such a big deal since he never had much to begin with, and has compensated by greatly improving his calmness, timing and focus on controlling tempo with the jab. In Usyk's case though his slightly lesser sharpness and speed could be a real hindrance to him down the stretch if Joyce really starts putting it on him, and Joyce is a considerably better pressure fighter than Chisora is at this stage which means Usyk is going to have to be constantly backpedaling, circling and darting shots in and out to be able to keep Joyce off him. That's way more wearying than what Joyce needs to do, which is basically keep plodding forward thudding out his jab and clubbing Usyk whenever he gets close and trying not to take too many silly shots that would lose him the rounds. Over the first half of the fight I can certainly see there being only one fighter up on the cards, but if Joyce is able to start imposing himself more on Usyk or Usyk begins to tire from the ridiculous energy he'll be forced to expend then the fight could get very scrappy and interesting (though probably horrendous as a spectacle).

I lean towards Usyk winning a decision at present, but a really hard fought one where his face is completely marked up by the end and he looks like he's about to collapse while Joyce still has his bland shark's eye grinning face looking none the worse for wear. Can also see the fight taking way more out of Usyk career wise than it will out of Joyce.