I just watched their WSB fight Joyce was still a bit green but also a bit lighter/faster, but he gave a decent account of himself vs Usyk i was quite surprised. Yes Joyce lost every round and was outclassed but he gave a decent account of himself. The first 3 rounds were quite competitive and Joyce's sheer will/aggression and very good chin made it so Usyk had to work for the win in a fun fight. If they would've fought in the pros of course Usyk would've outclassed him again. But i'm telling you now Joyce would've gave Usyk a much better contest than Dubois did and he would last the distance and give the fans an entertaining contest.
Joyce is just so painfully slow that I can help but think Usyk pieces him up en route to a comfortable decision
The later rounds would be very interesting. The pace Joyce was fighting at in the Parker fight was ridiculous, averaging 80+ punches a round. Prime Joyce maybe had an even better gas tank than heavyweight Usyk. The amount of shots Usyk would land on Joyce would be insane though.
Don't think so Big Joe Joyce was a lot bigger and heavier than the version who fought Usyk in the WSB and he wouldn't lay a glove on Usyk. The speed gap and skill gap is huge and Big Joe's slow-fast speed wouldn't even be a factor because Usyk is too intelligent not to grasp the concept of slow-fast speed Usyk would hit him at will, dodge Big Joe's slow-fast speed shots, school him with ease, and obviously Usyk has a great gas tank too
Uysk just too fast and smart for any version of Joyce. Boring points win as Joyce had a decent chin in his prime and Usyk wouldn't need to engage with him.
It would have been non competitive. Entertaining in the sense that Usyk would have put a clinic on liting him up like a XMAS tree for 12 rounds.
That fight was actually on the table, just before Usyk fought Joshua. But Usyk refused. To be fair to Usyk, He was mandatory challenger for Joshua and so by rights he was next up. On the other hand, Usyk displaced Whyte as the WBO #1 due to being the cruiserweight champion. Whyte wanted a final eliminator but was denied. Usyk refused the interim title fight with Joyce, this essentially blocked undisputed from happening. Usyk as mandatory for some reason was allowed to sign up for a rematch with Joshua which caused a back log in the division. Usyk loves his big money rematches. Fighting his own mandatories... not so much In the end, Prime Joyce got his interim title shot against Prime Parker. It would have been good to see Usyk v Joyce, but Usyk had other priorities
The best part of this fight was when the announcer wets himself because Joyce switched to southpaw, and a second later Usyk made him swallow a big left.
