Oleksandr Usyk v Joe Joyce

[NoSavingByTheBell]

Usyk beat Joyce over 4 rounds but I think Joe will win over 12 rounds. Joe has improved, will do better over the longer distance and I think Usyk is not as good with his injuries he has had and struggled too much against Chisora.

I would hope Joyce has improved, he was an amateur. Every time a Brit is underdog for a title, you back them because “they’ve improved.”
Don’t fighters from anywhere else improve?

What is your problem with Brits? Not being funny but you seem to have a bit of a bee in your bonnet when Brits celebrate or back fighters from here that many of us have followed for years. That is not blind optimism it is quite a natural and healthy response but you seem oddly irked by it.

If I am wrong then my apologies but that is how it comes across.

I am backing Joe. He has a great strong jab and lots of experience and a really good chin. I think he will be too big over the course of the fight for the smaller Usyk.

[SlimTrae]

Usyk beat Joyce over 4 rounds but I think Joe will win over 12 rounds. Joe has improved, will do better over the longer distance and I think Usyk is not as good with his injuries he has had and struggled too much against Chisora.

I would hope Joyce has improved, he was an amateur. Every time a Brit is underdog for a title, you back them because “they’ve improved.”
Don’t fighters from anywhere else improve?

What is your problem with Brits? Not being funny but you seem to have a bit of a bee in your bonnet when Brits celebrate or back fighters from here that many of us have followed for years. That is not blind optimism it is quite a natural and healthy response but you seem oddly irked by it.

If I am wrong then my apologies but that is how it comes across.

I am backing Joe. He has a great strong jab and lots of experience and a really good chin. I think he will be too big over the course of the fight for the smaller Usyk.

Plus, he's improved!

[Mark TKO]

Repeating what’s already been said but Usyk by UD the safe bet all the way.

While Joyce is in there he has a chance of tagging him but Usyk boxing IQ on another level and you just can’t see it.

It’s a shame for Usyk with his skill levels that he’s just not a natural heavyweight so he can mix it with the big boys. Not the first former cruiser to fall in that category.

Against the big guys winning by UD at distance is what he will need to do. He’s not going to be able to go in for the kill and engage.

[Memphis]

If Joyce continues to improve the jab and sorts out his right hand, so it's there to block the Usyk left, he's got a great shot at winning this.

As Mark said though, Usyk points is probably the safe bet. People will point to the WSB and you can basically come to any conclusion you want. Usyk won that, he'll win over twelve. Joyce has got better since then, etc etc...

Thinking back to the WSB fight I was of the opinion that Usyk won it at a canter. I re-watched the other day and it wasn't quite that one sided, despite Richie Woodhall's salivating over everything and anything Usyk did. Joyce had decent success and won rounds for me.

[erics44]

Joyce by late stoppage, think hell start really pressuring mid rounds and usyk will wilt

Cummon Joe

[Master]

Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury – but first Oleksandr Usyk: Joe Joyce lays out his big heavyweight plans

Joe Joyce’s time is now. The British heavyweight is two fights away from being an undefeated and undisputed world champion.

In a year where the boxing gods may finally deliver the Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury super fight everyone has been waiting for, it is another British heavyweight who has his sights set on establishing himself as the best in the world.

At 35, the silver medallist from Rio is four years younger than Joshua, despite his own Olympic exploits coming four years later.

So where Joshua was able to ease his way up to the top of the heavyweight ranks, Joyce has not had the same luxury of time.

He was already in his 30s when he turned pro in 2017, but last November’s win over Daniel Dubois put him into another stratosphere.

Now Joyce is set to take on Oleksandr Usyk, the Ukrainian who has dominated the cruiserweight division before stepping up to heavyweight.

If he can become the first person to beat the 34-year-old, then Joyce becomes the obvious candidate to take on whoever emerges from Joshua-Fury double-header.

That is a big if but it is not going to stop Joyce from dreaming big.

He said: “I don’t have the time to sit and wait around. This is my time now, I’m in my prime and I’m ready to win a world title. 2021, have some fun!

“Undefeated, undisputed, are you mad!”

It was the win over Dubois, using his jab to hammer away at the eye of his more fancied opponent, that has catapulted Joyce into the next level of the boxing ranks.

After that win in November, Joyce disappeared to Dubai for a week’s holiday, skipping the media spotlight.

The way he has gone under the radar to this point would not be possible were he to line up an all-British super fight by knocking off Usyk.

But Joyce is ready for the change of dimension.

“I don’t mind taking photographs. I’ve never been mobbed, mobbed. For Fury Wilder I, I got kind of mobbed there,” said Joyce, who is working with Purplebricks to encourage the nation to get behind Team GB on their journey to Tokyo.

“There was loads of British support and guys crying out ‘Hey, Joe Joyce’. It was great out there in the sun, there were people climbing over barriers.

“I can’t wait for that and for there to be crowds again, that’s the whole thing with boxing, building up to the main event. I can’t wait for it to go back to that.

“That was my big fight, the fight with Dubois. It was my first fight at the O2, which was going to be sell-out, pay-per-view, and then… Covid. But I’m so glad that it’s happened, I’ve won and proved a lot of people wrong and it’s really set me up at the right time for some big fights.”

Since returning from Dubai, Joyce has been back in training and building up for the fight against Usyk. That looks set to take place in London, a second meeting between the two fighters after previously squaring off in the World Series of Boxing when they were both amateurs.

Usyk won that day, but had a huge advantage in terms of experience. This time around, Joyce is adamant he will be ready.

He said: “With Dubois, his thing is the power, I had to watch out for his power. And with Usyk it’s going to be more of a mental battle, because he’s very skilful and he’s a southpaw. He’s got good footwork, so it’s going to be completely different. I’m not going to be worried about being knocked out, but outpointed or if Usyk tries to steal it from me, that’s what I’ll have to watch out for.”

https://inews.co.uk/sport/boxing/ant...t-plans-845026

[erics44]

Probly paints miles better than usyk n'all