Joe Joyce has revealed that he would prefer to fight Tyson Fury as opposed to Oleksandr Usyk in what could be a future bout, depending on the outcome of that potential undisputed match-up.
Joyce, who is currently the WBO mandatory challenger, has a vested interest in the outcome of the match-up. And a snippet of his intentions were already made clear when he appeared ringside after Fury’s victory over Dereck Chisora.
The Gypsy King called out Usyk which forced Joyce to call out Fury. But before Joyce gets too ahead of himself, he has a stern test in the form of Zhilei Zhang on April 15th, 2023.
Provided that Joyce comes out unscathed, then a Fury-Usyk battle is a firm possibility, as the latter duo close in on a reported April 29th date in Saudi Arabia.
In his interview with Talksport, Joyce admitted that Usyk would pose Fury a new set of challenges: “I think Usyk [is] quite hard to hit. He throws a lot of shots. “So I think he’ll cause Fury some problems because I don’t think he throws that many shots. But he throws them quick, and he’s long, and he’s tall, and he’s got footwork. So Usyk’s gonna be dancing around trying to nick it, and Fury’s gonna be trying to rough him up and do the big man thing, lean on him and stuff.”
As for the winner, Joyce’s comments show that a Fury grudge match is what he prefers. In truth, it would, in all honestly, sell out a packed stadium, as Fury’s attacking approach since getting with Sugar Hill will be up against one of the finest chins in boxing. As for motivation, Joyce is not lacking in that department.
He added: “It the biggest fight, it’s the biggest fight, especially for the UK fans. I’ve kinda been proving myself with my last victories, and once I get Zhang out of there, it will set that fight up really nicely.”