Would Joe Joyce be a top contender in the 1980s

Great so now we are onto a whole 2 guys that we agree would beat Joyce.

 

AT best, a lower top ten guy. Guys I would pick over JJ:
Frank Bruno
Razor Ruddock
Buster Douglas
Larry Holmes
Ridick Bowe
Tim Witherspoon
Bonecrusher Smith
Tony Tucker
Tyrell Biggs (50-50)
Carl Williams
Mike Tyson
Gerry Cooney (50-50)
Evander Holyfield

 

Trading with a guy like Joyce? Seriously?

When you're a solid points fighter with a good chin, up against a glacial puncher with a granite chin, you think standing and trading is a great gameplan?

Cmon...

It was, at best, a very short-sighted plan - and that's being very, very polite.

 

Coming in at a career heaviest weight.

He even said that with how easy to hit Joyce was (not wrong), it would be possible to get him out of there (which Zhang did, but Parker wasn't nearly powerful enough).

Absolutely shite gameplan.


It's still a good win, but make no mistake - Parker prepared completely wrong for that one.

 

It is damn hard to make an argument for Joyce in any era when his game plan is eating punches till the other guy tires.

 

I think most of the guys here beat Usyk, let alone Joe Joyce LOL

 

Yes. As long as he avoids Tyson, he can do well. Top 10 contender easily. Not top 3 though. Probably picks up an alphabet belt.

Douglas rarely showed up. Tubbs was fat and often not at his best. Joyce can beat them.

Tucker would be an interesting fight. At his best, Tucker outboxes him but TNT rarely fought top guys.

Joyce beats post Holmes Cooney. Probably beats Spinks and Berbrick. Loses to Witherspoon but could beat a less motivated Witherspoon.

Come on. Let's not act as if Berbick, Bonecrusher, Tubbs etc. were better than peak Joyce.

Joyce has gone from overrated to underrated.

 

Plenty of the best contenders in the 80s were hot and cold for various reasons ranging from laziness, ballooning in weight too often, and regular drug abuse. We're not talking about the best version of Joyce against the best version of each, it's how he would fare over a long span of time against guys who're admittedly more talented than him but who lacked dedication and who struggled to put things together on a consistent basis. Joyce is a big HW with big power, a granite chin, underrated skills, and an insane engine. All those traits together would spell serious trouble for plenty of the 80s HWs who relied big on their power or who faded down the stretch because of how poor they were in their training.

 

Pinklon Thomas was undefeated for 7 years.

Tim Witherspoon was a two time Heavyweight champion in the 80s.

Buster Douglas was fighting at a high level for 3 years between 87-90.

Tony Tucker had 1 loss in the entire decade of the 80s.

So whilst the 80s Heavyweights could be inconsistent they did have numerous years where they were fighting at a good level.

Joe Joyce was done after his first loss to Zhang then lost to a punch drunk 40 year old Chisora.

So Joyce's brief run as a notable contender was just as short as some of the 80s Heavyweights if we're being honest.

 

Joyce can’t fight. He’s big, tough, and he can club you to death if you let him, but he’s not outboxing anyone. How his limitations went unnoticed before zhang is a mystery to me.

 

Let's not forget, prime Joyce was a beast. And the only person to stop granite chinned Joseph Parker.

 

The further back in history you go the better he does due to his size and reach to some degree.