If Joyce faced Fury at the Tottenham stadium in December 2022 instead of it being Chisora who would have won?
Joyce is slow as molasses. He’s a big guy. That’s about it. He was never beating Fury. Fury by boring UD.
Fury would give Joyce a boxing lesson for 12 rounds,can’t see him stopping Joyce however back in 2022 pre Zhang .
Fury hasn’t got crazy power and his legs aren’t that great he can’t keep it up for 12 rounds the moving so Joyce would attempt to swarm him. Fury said Joyce was one of his toughest spars because of his relentlessness. Fury likes to box at his pace. Usyk made Fury box at a faster tempo then he’d like and so would Joyce.
We should have got that fight TBH - it would have been a much better fight than Fury V Chisora 3. Fury would have got a lot more respect if he took it, and he probably would have won it. I also think Joyce would have taken less of both physical and mental damage by fighting Fury instead of Zhang twice. For the actual fight - I think it would have been a pretty boring and cagey affair with Fury winning 10 rounds to 2. Joyce would have been far too predictable for Fury, but he would have gained Fury's respect as he has a very strong engine, long-run power, and then a strong chin (I don't know about Joyce's chin now, but we all know that he was regarded to have a house of a chin then). So, I don't think Fury would have really engaged much with him, instead playing it safe.
Fury by wide decision. Joyce was always just too slow to deal with a fighter like Fury. The only way Joyce has any chance is if Fury turns up in poor shape and tries to fight aggressively and ends up trading... But even if unfit, Fury would know better than to fight Joyce like that - he'd go for points and it'd be wide and clear.
Boring fight? You think? Fury usually likes to fight at his own pace but Joyce would be swarming him all night making him fight at a higher pace. Usyk made Fury have to fight at a higher tempo than he likes in his wins. Fury doesn’t have crazy power to deter or stop Joyce like Zhang did and I think his legs would slow down in the fight. I think he’d have to stand and fight Joyce many moments throughout like Parker had to. I also think Parker has a better chin than Fury and is able to absorb much more.
Fury would get swarmed and made to fight not pot shot and pick and choose when to inject the pace. I can’t see it being a comfortable fight for Fury.
Might not be a comfortable fight as the stylistic matchup does indeed favour Joyce. But, you'd have to expect Fury to outbox Joyce in the majority of rounds, and back his ring IQ / recovery to get through some tough rounds/moments which will come.
Fury's underrated ring IQ would come in handy when fighting someone like Joyce. Fury would anticipate Joyce's shots quite easily too. He wouldn't be trading with him, he is smarter than that. Fury knows how to win rounds against someone like Joyce and safety get the decision. Usyk is on a complete another level to Joyce.