EXCLUSIVE — “Late bloomer” Joe Joyce believes he’s at the perfect stage of life to take down the heavyweight division’s former kings, eyeing dates with Anthony Joshua in North London and Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas.
But those “exciting fights and life-changing money” would come after the top priority - taking Oleksandr Usyk’s unified world titles and gaining revenge for an amateur defeat nearly a decade ago.
Joyce secured that shot with the Ukrainian by defeating Joseph Parker with a spectacular round-11 knockout in late September, becoming WBO interim champion. It places him at 15-0, with 14 of those seeing stoppages.
But moreso than his destructive power, what had the boxing world talking was his granite chin, with the 37-year-old eating absolutely everything Parker could throw at him. The former WBO world champion landed a couple flush to the face, but Joyce was unmoved.
Speaking to The Sporting News in his local pub in Putney, South-West London, Joyce towers over all in sight but feels right at home and seems to relish the local-hero status off-camera — even if he’s now drawing eyes from a global audience. He puts the ability to take punishment down to “fitness and conditioning” over his natural gifts. It means “any shots bounce off”.
That improvement is part of the work by trainer Ismael Salas, the renowned Cuban trainer who has overseen multiple world champions in smaller weight classes. 'The Juggernaut' is all-in on Salas' methods, including showing tape of Parker's past opponents' successes on the journey to Manchester last month, which clearly stayed in his mind.
MORE: Joe Joyce calls out Oleksandr Usyk after knocking out Joseph Parker
Alongside having codewords for combinations during fights, so Joyce's foes can't understand their mid-bout alterations, he credits Salas with some key improvements: "My footwork, my punch variety. I can generate more power in my punches due to technique."
He continued, on the victory over Parker: "At the time, I couldn’t even remember what punch I hit him with, and then someone brought it up and showed me… ‘ooh! It was a good knockout!’ When I look at my fights, I spot my mistakes. I noticed in this fight, my feet were steady and with me, my footwork was good. I had a higher guard, so I was blocking a lot more shots."
It's been a long road to the top for the giant who has Gennadiy Golovkin, Floyd Mayweather and Yuriorkis Gamboa as his boxing heroes. Indeed, long before Salas was taking him for training camps in Las Vegas, Joyce had already tasted American life — but from a very different sporting viewpoint.
Joyce explained: "When I was university in England doing my Fine Art degree, I found out you could do an exchange. I chose Sacramento State [for a semester].
"I was trying to get on the Athletics team, but they wanted me out for the whole year, so you train for one half of the year and compete in the next. Same with the American Football team.
"Because I was there early, I got talking to one of the cheerleaders, Jessica. She was like, ‘yeah, you should come to practice, do some tumbling’, because I was into martial arts.
"I could do a lot of the coed moves, like when you put the two feet on your hands and lift the girl up, the small flyers that are 5ft and quite light. I’d put them up, and catch them by their feet. It was cool.
"The only thing wrong about the cheerleading was the actual cheerleading, where we had to hype up the games: ‘Go Sac State!’ The basketball was funny because they’re looking at me like, ‘why can’t you come and play basketball?’"
Basketball's loss is boxing's gain. Despite his advancing years, Joyce is now the most intriguing quantity in the division, with a genuine shot against any of the four horsemen — Usyk, Joshua, Wilder and Tyson Fury.
A chat with Parker after their fight, where the New Zealander explained how at 24 he wasn't quite mentally ready for his title reign, has put Joyce in a positive mood: "It’s the ideal time for me.
"I’m a late bloomer, a late starter. I needed that 10 years in the sport - I’m still improving my technique. I’m a lot more mentally secure. I have a lot more seasoned outlook."
The plan now is for the 2016 Olympic silver medalist to return to Vegas early next year, before a March fight. Who that fight is against is the big question, as the man he's mandatory for, Usyk, is instead seeking an undisputed clash with Fury.
If he does get hold of Usyk next, Joyce is confident there'll be no repeat of his points defeat in a 2013 World Series of Boxing showdown: "I know how to fight southpaws now.
"He was coming off an Olympic gold and 350 amateur bouts, so he was well more skilled than me. But it was over five rounds, and I was getting into him, landing shots. If it was over 12, maybe he couldn’t hang with me, taking those shots in the pros with the smaller gloves.
"I rate him. The engine, high punch output, the skills, staying offline and dodging Joshua’s punches, the footwork, how smart he is in the ring. If you hit him with a shot, you won’t hit him again with that same shot."
One potential scrap with no belts on the line, but undoubtedly a lot more thrilling, would be against Wilder — boxing's biggest punch versus its strongest chin. Joyce purred at the thought: "It would be good to beat Wilder in Vegas!
"He’s still a massive attraction. He can really bang - he’s got the best finisher. He’s learning more now, with Malik Scott. He’s added more to his game.
"Fury ‘juggernauted’ him, so that’s what I’d have to do. He’s learning more, and he’s very patient — he’s got a sniper scope, and when he’s got you in his sights, pow!"
Despite Fury being under the same stable as Joyce, in Queensbury, the challenger he knows most intimately is Joshua. The pair previously sparred together, with the former unified king being the brightest light in the game at the time.
That brought some liberties with it, Joyce revealed: "He’d always turn up late!" But overall, it was a positive experience: "We both brought each other on. Tough sparring — it used to be exciting, fun to mix it with him."
Now, the pair are on a much more even playing field, to the extent that many fans are clamouring to see a battle between these two behemoths from the outskirts of the capital.
Joyce is keen: "Joshua would be a good fight. If not in Saudi, it could be in either Arsenal or Tottenham Stadium. It would probably be at the Emirates, because I’d be the A-side!
"He’s always been the big man on top. He’s had it all go his way, and the commercial deals. He’s made it exciting again, brought boxing as a main sport again. He’s been great for British boxing.
"Before Ruiz, I thought he’d beat everyone — I thought he’d beat Fury. But now, it’s all shattered."
Watch the full video interview at the top of the page.
