He was highly ranked at some point, and I think much better than his post-Zhang showings, especially the dreadful Hrgovic fight. Generally speaking, such a likeable guy. Wish he could have done more.
I think his glaring weaknesses would have always been exposed. Fury would've outboxed him. Usyk would've schooled him as he actually did in their WSB fight. Joyce had no defence and plodded forward relying on his very good chin and workrate to get the job done. That's not a recipe for a long successful career at world level. Could he have won against a few more notable contenders had he not been matched up vs Zhang ? Possibly. But I don't think his career alters that much in regards to him being able to beat the top Heavyweights in the division. Realistically his best bet would've been going after a rematch vs Dubois when he was a brief belt holder. If Joyce stayed undefeated he possibly could've got that fight.
I don't think matchmaking was his problem, his problem was he turned pro so late that the toughest fights of his professional career coincided with his natural athletic and sporting decline. Because of the nature of his decline people characterise him as a slow, plodding oaf who overly relied on his chin, but in actual fact he was a skilled yet unorthodox boxer at his peak; just examine his fight against Dubois, where he looked much quicker and much more educated than he did in his last few unsuccessful outings. People bring up his WSB bout against Usyk, and in all fairness he was never skilled enough to compete with Usyk, but that doesn't mean he couldn't have couldn't have troubled the other champions or contenders that operated contemporaneously.
Bout against Dubois is one of his best performances. Great jab, some actually good head-movement at times, and he absolutely did not stand still for Daniel to tee off at him.
Joyce simply started too late. He started as a pro at 32, but it usually takes 3-5 years to develop a prospect into a fighter that is championship worthy, so Joyce didn’t have the luxury of being carefully matched. This is also the case with Zhang, who also unfortunately turned pro too late.
