Joe Joyce has been a great edition to the heavyweight division. Most recently he had his stand-out performance stopping Kiwi, Joseph Parker. However, I am perplexed by what his ultimate goal is. He joined the pro ranks late in his career and had been moving steadily toward a title shot. However, even though he is probably the most deserving of a title shot out of the available contenders, being WBO mandatory puts him at the back of the queue behind WBA (Dubois) and IBF (Hrgovic). What’s worse is it wouldn’t surprise me if the WBC tries to position their own mandatory ahead of him once the belts are unified. Of late, the fighter he most often talks about is Joshua. Does this mean he has given up on being world champion and is settling for a pay day? Or is he hoping Fury comes out on top against Usyk, then gives him a shot without waiting on the WBO. Of course, he could just wait for the belts to split up, and become an email champ… Personally, I am surprised he isn’t pushing hard for a Dubois rematch. Dubois is the next mandatory in line, and they are both under Warren. Not to mention he already beat him once. So, if he wants to guarantee getting his shot at the lineal championship sooner than 2025, shouldn’t he be calling out Dubois?
He needs another opponent before facing the winner of Usyk vs Fury. Frank Sanchez, Otto Wallin or Fillip Hrgovic would make sense. So in answer to your poll, one of those options listed makes sense Father Time isn’t on his side given many top HWs fight only once per year and twice maximum. As well as the fact we are in an era of endless rematches. I don’t see a tactic of waiting around would work for him, and the Dubois rematch is pointless. Dubois is a glass cannon and would get smashed to bits again. That wouldn’t make sense for fish eyes either, who would like to still make money from Dubois.
Whilst I agree those are attractive match ups. I'm not sure he is going to get the winner of Fury v Usyk. As you say, we are in an era of rematches. If Usyk comes out on top, I don't see him wanting to fight Joyce before say Wilder. Wilder will be a bigger boon for Usyk in terms of financial rewards and legacy (Usyk already has that win over Joyce in the WSB). If Fury wins, does he take on a tough opponent like Joyce, or aim for Joshua (again, financial and legacy). I doubt Hrgovic would fight Joyce, it's a very dangerous fight for a limited boost in profile and gets him no closer to a title shot, being that he is already the IBF mandatory. Sanchez, possibly, but I doubt the PBC will see value in shipping him out to fight Joyce. Wallin is definitely an option and would probably fancy it. But, is Dubois rematch pointless? He holds a secondary title and is next up in the list of mandatories. Though I agree with you, it probably is not a fight Warren wants to make.
Rematch blah blah blah. Dubios doesn't to fight a man who almost blinded him with a jab, I gaurantee that.
From what I’m told if Usyk wins convincingly and there’s no rematch he plans to retire. He’s earnt good money and to go out undisputed heavyweight champ having beaten AJ and Fury is enough legacy to get him into the mix as the greatest ever
Joyce is in a great position. He’s with the UKs No 1 promoter. Adam Morallee is also clearly a very good manager and probably most importantly he is only second to Fury in the BT pecking order. I believe he is out in April (I think they may go for Wallin) on standard BT so it will draw a huge audience. Assuming he wins in good style and Fury comes through Usyk, that would become a massive fight at Wembley. No doubt the first 100k attended event and touching 1m PPV buys. It would be a no brainer for all involved and Warren has made it clear that is his preferred route. Frank is not going to put Dubois in with Usyk or Fury anytime soon anyway.
He hasn’t got time to wait for a sanctioning body to give him a mandatory and he can’t rely on Fury ever voluntarily fighting him, he has to pursue the biggest fight he can realistically get now.
I don't think Joyce needs to call out Dubois, he beat him convincingly last time. I hope he gets a title shot but I like watching him regardless, he doesn't seem to feel the effect of any head shots. Seems such a laid back dude too. We have so many good UK heavies, it's really good to see.
Considering his age and poor resume - push to face Usyk, Fury, AJ, Wilder, Ruiz, Sanchez... I don't see him really care.
Fury & Usyk will be tied up so he just needs to be involved in the biggest money making fights possible whilst continuing to stay active and build momentum for when the time comes to fight either Fury or Usyk. Dillian Whyte for example would be perfect. Big name, draws money and profile in the UK, winnable..........
I fear that Joe Joyce will end up not becoming the name that he had the potential to be. It's a shame.
Whyte would be a perfect fight next, he’s on the decline but still has a decent sized fan base however it won’t get made. I would like to see a AJ fight in the summer instead of AJ v Whyte however that won’t happen either. Everyone else is tied up part from maybe Ortiz?
He'd give a Joshua a bad beatdown. he should take that fight if available, whether it's for a belt or not as priority for his profile.