Joyce Could Have Another Bout Before Dubois Clash

While not the first time it has been brought up, the idea of a tune-up bout for Joe Joyce in 2020 is a possibility.

Joyce (10-0) was set to face off against Daniel Dubois in April for the British, Commonwealth, and European Heavyweight Titles. Due to the coronavirus, the bout was moved to around July. Sam Jones, the manager of Joyce, believes that Joyce might need more time to prepare for the bout.

“We have a date of July 11 but I’m not confident that is going to happen,” Jones stated to Mirror Fighting, via Boxing Scene. “It comes to a point where Joe will have been out of the ring for over a year so he needs to have a fight; he needs to have a run-out, whoever it is against.”

Joyce went 3-0 in 2019, beating Bermane Stiverne and Alexander Ustinov via TKO and Bryant Jennings via unanimous decision. The Jennings win in July was for the WBA (Gold) heavyweight Title. Now, a full year later, Joyce is expected to face off against one of his toughest challenges.

Dubois (14-0), 22, won the British Heavyweight Title against Nathan Gorman and the Commonwealth Title against Ebenezer Tetteh. His last fight was in December, beating Kyotaro Fujimoto via KO, his fifth win in a row via some form of knockout.

While there are plans for fights to go on without fans, Jones believes the time away could be a huge factor for Joyce by the time July rolls around.

“He needs to earn some money but at the same time he needs to dust the cobwebs off and get match fit,” Jones went on to say. “It’s the same for Dubois but he fought at Christmas and so he’s had a couple of fights since Joe last fought.

“[Joyce] needs some rounds in the bank, and if he doesn’t fight Dubois next he needs to fight someone who won’t just fall over in a round. We are open to fighting Dubois behind closed doors but [promoter] Frank Warren has said he won’t do it and that’s his decision to make.”

Back in January, there were talks of Joyce having a warm-up bout before facing Dubois.