JOE JOYCE HAS been told he will be able carry on punching in six week’s time as he accelerates his recovery following a wrist injury that ruled him out of an early 2022 date.
The Juggernaut was scheduled for February action with the intention of beefing up his CV and topping up his experience ahead of a potential world heavyweight title tilt later this year. The 36-year-old is No.1 ranked by the World Boxing Organisation and is next in line to face the winner of the forthcoming Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua rematch, which looks likely to take place in May.
Promoter Frank Warren has indicated a preference for April when it comes to Joyce’s return to action.
The 13-0 Putney man with 12 stoppages to his name sustained the injury after returning from a training stint with his revered coach Ismael Salas in Las Vegas, who he was unable to work with across the build-up to his victory over Carlos Takam at Wembley in July of last year due to travel restrictions.
The sixth round stoppage triumph over the redoubtable and rated Takam reinforced Joyce’s position in pole position with the WBO and it was a performance the 2016 Olympic silver medallist declares himself satisfied with.
“I think it was an ok performance from me and, technique-wise, it was better,” reflected Joyce. “I feel it was a good performance against Takam, although he landed some good shots that didn’t seem to faze me. I was kind of working out his timing and stuff and landing when I could, while trying to avoid or block most of his looping shots that were coming over the top.
“I found the timing with my jab then landed a good left hook in the sixth. After that I was like ‘okay, I am not going to stop throwing punches until this is stopped’.
Source: www.frankwarren.com
