What Is The Status Of Daniel Dubois Vs. Joe Joyce?
Initially, any plans for a tune-up fight before Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce clashed was thrown out the window. Now, it appears that it has become a reality.
Queensberry Promotions announced that Dubois and Joyce will fight on separate fight cards before facing one another. This comes after the two were rumored to fight inside the O2 Arena on October 24. Frank Warren will be producing shows from BT Sports’ studios in East London.
On July 25, Joyce (10-0) will face off against Michael Wallisch in a non-title affair. Joyce made his professional debut in 2017 and became Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion in 2018. A WBA (Gold) Heavyweight Champion, the 34-year-old last fought in July 2019, beating Bryant Jennings to retain the title. “Juggernaut” has nine wins via knockout.
Wallisch (20-3) is 1-3 in his last four fights. Fighting three times in 2019, the 34-year-old fought in September, losing to Tony Yoka via TKO. Joyce’s manager did state that there was a possibility of a fight before he and Dubois clash.
Dubois, the WBO International Heavyweight Champion, will defend his title against Erik Pfeifer on August 29. The 22-year-old made his professional debut in 2017 and has already won the English Heavyweight Title as well as the British Heavyweight Title. His last fight was in December, beating Kyotaro Fujimoto via KO, his fifth win in a row via some form of knockout.
A two-time Bronze medalist in the World Championships, Pfeifer (7-0) turned professional in 2018. Fighting primarily in Germany, the 33-year-old last fought in November, beating Adnan Redzovic to win the vacant WBO European Heavyweight Title.
“The delay until October for the fight against Joe has given me more time to get things right and the Pfeifer fight is a bonus,” Dubois stated. “It’s a shame that fans can’t attend, but I’m not moaning. A lot of fighters aren’t going to get work for months.
“Hopefully Joe does the business on Wallisch and we give fans something to look forward when we finally meet later in October. It’s great to have an outing so I can blow away the cobwebs. When fight night comes it will have been more than seven months since my last contest. I’ve never had a layoff that long since I started boxing.
“I want to deliver a big performance and then it will be all systems go to KO Joe in October.”
Including the main events, here are the fights that will be taking place on July 25 and August 29:
July 25
- Joe Joyce v. Michael Wallisch
- Chris Bourke (7-0) v. Ramez Mahmood (11-0)
- Ekow Essuman (13-0)
- Denzel Bentley (12-0)
- Louie Lynn (6-0)
August 29
- Daniel Dubois (c) v. Erik Pfeifer – WBO International Heavyweight Title
- Sunny Edwards (c) (14-0) v. Thomas Essomba (10-5) – IBF International Super-Flyweight Title
- Sam Maxwell (c) (13-0) v. Joe Hughes (17-5-1) – WBO European Super-Lightweight Title
- Willy Hutchinson (10-0) v. Luke Blackledge (26-9-2)