Joe Joyce vs. Bermane Stiverne - February 23, 2019

[Onetimeonly]

Kownacki is a punching bag for Ortiz. He's a tough little booger at the Charles Martin level. Ortiz would stop him early. Joyce is just so slow. Too many countering opportunities.

[gilgamesh]

This seems like a much more reasonable step up for Joyce than Luis Ortiz would've been.

[oogiebe]

This seems like a much more reasonable step up for Joyce than Luis Ortiz would've been.

Joyce at 33 and having had the amateur career he had, should be fighting someone better than a burnt-out never was like Stiverne. He's not a 25 y/o with 7 fights. He's 33 and seemingly on a slow track. I think he doesn't amount to much anyway, but Stiverne does nothing for Joyce's in ring experience. I'm pretty disappointed in this matchup the more I think about it.

[gilgamesh]

This seems like a much more reasonable step up for Joyce than Luis Ortiz would've been.

Joyce at 33 and having had the amateur career he had, should be fighting someone better than a burnt-out never was like Stiverne. He's not a 25 y/o with 7 fights. He's 33 and seemingly on a slow track. I think he doesn't amount to much anyway, but Stiverne does nothing for Joyce's in ring experience. I'm pretty disappointed in this matchup the more I think about it.

On paper though Stiverne is a former World Champion. He has legit punching power in spite of his otherwise mediocre talent. He's a more reasonable step up for Joyce with so few Pro fights. If he wins as easy as he's been winning against lesser foes there's no reason why he couldn't be fighting a bigger name by May or June.

[oogiebe]

This seems like a much more reasonable step up for Joyce than Luis Ortiz would've been.

Joyce at 33 and having had the amateur career he had, should be fighting someone better than a burnt-out never was like Stiverne. He's not a 25 y/o with 7 fights. He's 33 and seemingly on a slow track. I think he doesn't amount to much anyway, but Stiverne does nothing for Joyce's in ring experience. I'm pretty disappointed in this matchup the more I think about it.

On paper though Stiverne is a former World Champion. He has legit punching power in spite of his otherwise mediocre talent. He's a more reasonable step up for Joyce with so few Pro fights. If he wins as easy as he's been winning against lesser foes there's no reason why he couldn't be fighting a bigger name by May or June.

I had posted that I'm more concerned with his next fight and opponent as Joyce needs to have a great year or he could find himself at 35 with 12 mediocre fights. Another poster made the point that Stiverne is a name on his resume. I guess we'll see.

[brilo33]

good fight for joe any one know how many rds it is , if it is 10 rds joe could stop him, joe should be to quick big work rate for bermane

[candyslim]

Kownacki is a punching bag for Ortiz. He's a tough little booger at the Charles Martin level. Ortiz would stop him early. Joyce is just so slow. Too many countering opportunities.

Kownacki would be relying on coming on strong in the second half of the fight but whether his lack of defence and Ortiz's skills would allow him to survive until the second half is another question of course.

Nobody is likely to cite hand or foot-speed as one of Joyce's attributes but it didn't prevent him winning an Olympic Super-heavyweight gold medal, that was the outrageous judging that did that. One would expect the lack of speed to be a far greater handicap to an amateur boxer than to a pro, for reasons I'm sure I don't need to explain.

I have banged the drum for Ortiz more than most down the years but despite his Cuban amateur background and huge number of wins against few defeats, you would have to say surely that Joyce has a far greater impact as an amateur than Ortiz has during his career, although his former Cuban amateur star status is a big part of how Ortiz has acquired his reputation.

As a pro Ortiz's fearsome reputation derives from his awesome destruction of Bryant Jennings, whose mental and physical toughness is further called into question by his snatching defeat from the jaws of victory not 48 hours ago. Apart from that it is his brave showing, but ultimately a failure by knock-out at the hands of Wilder. His third most notable fight was either a win over a less than stellar Tony Thompson, or a stumbling dreadfully unimpressive win over a terrified Malik Scott, for whom combat was the last thing on his mind. Take your pick.

A cynic might suggest that Wilder's reputation is built on his victory over Ortiz, and Ortiz's reputation is built on his defeat by Wilder. I believe that would be a little unfair but I don't regard Joyce as being an easy win for Ortiz, far from it.

[Onetimeonly]

I don't see anything from Joyce to bother Ortiz, much less wilder. I don't think he'd beat Hughie fury.

[gilgamesh]

I don't see anything from Joyce to bother Ortiz, much less wilder. I don't think he'd beat Hughie fury.

Yeah I don't think he beats Ortiz either. He can probably take Stiverne though.

[Tony1244]

Stiverne fights so ridiculously seldom, my guess is Bermaine is just taking a payday. Joyce by KO.

[oogiebe]

From what I know, the only person saying this fight is on, is Stiverne. Has it been confirmed?

[candyslim]

I don't see anything from Joyce to bother Ortiz, much less wilder. I don't think he'd beat Hughie fury.

I have posted on here more than once that I believe Hughie has the tools to deactivate Joe Joyce, but that was before Hughie's pretty feeble performance against Pulev. I had high hopes for him after his showing against Parker which proved he could play with the big boys, but since that insipid effort against Pulev, I'm not sure he has the mental strength to go with his skills.

I hope we soon get the chance to see if my expectations for Joyce and for Miller are justified or whether like Hughie I need to re-evaluate.

[KiwiRider]

Hi EO,
Would you mind terribly weighing in on;
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=227907&p=5087876#p5087876
I would appreciate your thoughts on the 5 fight contract, and opinions regarding future scenarios and contractual obligations- and of course- the money...
Thank you

[Tony1244]

I don't see anything from Joyce to bother Ortiz, much less wilder. I don't think he'd beat Hughie fury.

I have posted on here more than once that I believe Hughie has the tools to deactivate Joe Joyce, but that was before Hughie's pretty feeble performance against Pulev. I had high hopes for him after his showing against Parker which proved he could play with the big boys, but since that insipid effort against Pulev, I'm not sure he has the mental strength to go with his skills.

I hope we soon get the chance to see if my expectations for Joyce and for Miller are justified or whether like Hughie I need to re-evaluate.

That's just how I feel about Hughie. Before Hughie's fight with Pulev and before Tyson's fight with Wilder, I said something to the effect of if they were stocks, Hughie would be a better buy than Tyson. I got scorned for that, and in retrospect the scorn was justified.

I need to see more of Joyce. Heavy hands, but a little slow and 33 if I remember correctly.

[candyslim]

That's right, he needs to move fast. Everyone is saying that about Joyce but nobody seems to say it about Zhang Jun Long for example. I assume that's because Joyce is seen as having genuine ambition whereas Zhang (among other latecomers) is regarded as a joke.

[oogiebe]

That's right, he needs to move fast. Everyone is saying that about Joyce but nobody seems to say it about Zhang Jun Long for example. I assume that's because Joyce is seen as having genuine ambition whereas Zhang (among other latecomers) is regarded as a joke.

Zhang never enters my mind at all.

[candyslim]

Now that surprises me because I had you down as a prospect-watcher.

Ah you just don't regard a man of 37 years to be a prospect do you? Got it!

[oogiebe]

Now that surprises me because I had you down as a prospect-watcher.

Ah you just don't regard a man of 37 years to be a prospect do you? Got it!

Actually, I watched him fight and don't consider him to have any measurable potential as his opponents look like WWE scrubs trying to 'sell' Zhang off as legit. He is largely better than his countryman Zhilei Zhang. Joyce is 33 and I do consider him a prospect, but I don't hold him in too high regard. This year will be big for Joyce, and I could care less about Zhang. (how he got rated this high is beyond me as well).

[jamamb]

no way , zhang zhilei is the better, an actual top am and not some ali raymi style fraud

[oogiebe]

no way , zhang zhilei is the better, an actual top am and not some ali raymi style fraud

I'll go back and watch them. I get them confused. One of them looks like a boxer, the other looks like a setup. Did I mix them up?

[jamamb]

not that either are much, but zhilei is actually a real boxer who is competent at a basic level and won medals in olympics and world championships, and also beating dychko to win the asian games

jun long is a fraud who you can hardly find anything on, and everything i have seen it looks like his opponents laid themselves down. i think one of the sanctoning bodies even called him shady, his team was fraudently claiming to be fighting for one of there titles

[oogiebe]

not that either are much, but zhilei is actually a real boxer who is competent at a basic level and won medals in olympics and world championships, and also beating dychko to win the asian games

jun long is a fraud who you can hardly find anything on, and everything i have seen it looks like his opponents laid themselves down. i think one of the sanctoning bodies even called him shady, his team was fraudently claiming to be fighting for one of there titles

I did indeed mix up the Zhangs. Jun Long is a big slow fake. It's HIS opponents who are trying to 'sell' him as the goods (WWE like). Zhilei is the better, but not that good, IMHO.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Poxon Sports and PBC are delighted to announce that heavyweight sensation Joe Joyce will defend his Commonwealth title in the biggest test of his unbeaten career when he takes a gigantic leap up to confront the Former WBC World Champion Bermane Stiverne on Saturday 23rd February at The O2, exclusively live on ITV Box Office.

Joyce vs. Stiverne, promoted by Poxon Sports in association with Ringstar Sports and Don King Productions, will feature alongside the return of Former IBF World Featherweight Champion Lee Selby as one of the chief-supporting contests on an action-packed show, headlined with the thrilling all-British clash between fierce rivals James DeGale and Chris Eubank Jr.

Joyce said, “I had respect for Bermane Stiverne. We sparred in Las Vegas; he said he took me to school in an interview etc, it got ugly and it made this fight happen. I tried to be respectful of him, but he’s rude and was having none of it. He is a former World Champion that has gone 12 rounds with Deontay Wilder and will give me a real challenge; but my engine and my power will be too much for him, a fact he should be aware of!”

Joyce’s promoter Richard Schaefer, Chairman and CEO of Ringstar Sports, said, “After only seven fights Joe Joyce has become the number five ranked Heavyweight in the world. But the spectacular way in which he has won all of his seven fights by knockout have made him the number one fan favourite in the Heavyweight Division. Taking on the heavy-handed Former World Champion Stiverne shows that no challenge is too big for Joe as he continues to march towards the Heavyweight World Championship. Simply put: Joe Joyce has become must see TV, so make sure to tune in on February 23 or come and watch him live at the O2 in London!”

WBC World Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder also put forward his thoughts on the intriguing match up, he said, "Joe Joyce will be a good test for him (Stiverne). I’ve seen Joe Joyce before. He’s a good fighter. Joe Joyce fought Joe Hanks on my undercard with Tyson Fury but I didn’t get a chance to see him fight that night. But I’m looking forward to seeing him against Stiverne."

Richard Poxon, UK Promoter for PBC, said, “I’ve known Joe from his amateur days up in Sheffield. His success at the Olympics didn’t surprise me at all. He’s transitioned well to the pros now and is clearly in a hurry. The heavyweight division is the one that everyone is looking at again and I fully expect Joe to be in the thick of the action in the coming year. Taking on a former WBC World Champion in only your eighth fight clearly shows what Joe’s ambitions are.”

[oogiebe]

"gigantic leap." Um...not any more.

[KiwiRider]

"gigantic leap." Um...not any more.

nah, more like "One small step for Lurchkind"