Joe Joyce vs. Daniel Dubois - 28 November 2020

[Verdi]

If Whyte Vs Povetkin, who are both clearly far bigger names, can be done behind close doors, Joyce Vs Dubois certainly could also. Maybe Frank should ask Eddie if he can borrow his back garden.

[deadpan]

I've said it before, I can't see this fight happening any time soon.

Absolutely. There's no chance without a full arena, and that's not happening until the middle of next year at the earliest.

[mickey1975]

If Whyte Vs Povetkin, who are both clearly far bigger names, can be done behind close doors, Joyce Vs Dubois certainly could also. Maybe Frank should ask Eddie if he can borrow his back garden.

I’d much rather see Dubious-Joyce. Never have rated Whyte.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Latest Details Explained By Warren

The heavyweight clash between Joe Joyce and Daniel Dubois could take place behind closed doors on pay-per-view if crowds are not allowed back into venues in the UK soon.

The fight between unbeaten boxers for the British, Commonwealth and European title is presently listed for October 24 at the O2 Arena, London, although it is understood that date will be moved back to November 21 or 28 in anticipation that there will be more of a chance of a crowd being allowed.

But on Monday UK Prime minister Boris Johnson announced a tightening of coronavirus restrictions, to reduce the risk of a second wave, outlawing social gatherings of more than six people.

However, a series of sporting test events planned for September in cricket, football, rugby union, basketball, horse racing and speedway, will go ahead with crowds limited to 1,000.

George Warren, the CEO of promotional company Queensberry, said it was “feasible” the fight would be held on pay-per-view if restrictions are increased, but says they were determined that the fight will happen.

“We have to assess things like everyone else,” Warren said. “We want that fight to happen, Joe Joyce wants that fight to happen, Daniel Dubois wants that fight to happen, their teams want it to happen, Queensberry want it to happen, BT want it to happen.

“Any way we will get it on, we will make it happen. It is a fight that deserves to have a crowd, whether there is the ability to be at full capacity, that remains to be seen.

“We don’t know how long these restrictions are going to be, we’ve still not had clear direction from the Government on capacities or percentages allowed in venues.

“It looks likely at the moment that in late October or November we are going to start to see the participation of crowds. We’ve got to discuss it with BT and most importantly the fighters have to be comfortable with it.”

In response to a question about staging it on pay-per-view, Warren did not rule it out.

“In the current climate, anything is feasible,” he said. “What do we want to see? We want to see a crowd. We want the British, Commonwealth and European heavyweight championships on the line for Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce at a sold-out arena such as the O2. That’s the plan, Until we can’t see that happening in the short term, that’s the plan.”

The fight was originally scheduled for April, then switched back to July and then to October. It is understood that around 15,000 tickets have been sold for the fight, When the original date was postponed, only about 10 per cent of tickets were returned, according to promoter allegedly.

[Boxerbeetle]

I’d probably pay a tenner for this, but no more.

Tenner should be the going rate anyway for PPV.

[jamesmcdonnell]

If Whyte Vs Povetkin, who are both clearly far bigger names, can be done behind close doors, Joyce Vs Dubois certainly could also. Maybe Frank should ask Eddie if he can borrow his back garden.

I’d much rather see Dubious-Joyce. Never have rated Whyte.

Me either. Whytes really nothing special.

[Cyclops]

I've said it before, I can't see this fight happening any time soon.

Absolutely. There's no chance without a full arena, and that's not happening until the middle of next year at the earliest.

I've still got f*cking tickets! They've never offered me a refund, just emailed me apologising about moving the date. The more Warren talks about how big or small the crowd will be, I'd better still be in it.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Daniel Dubois vs Joe Joyce postponed again – allegedly now targeting new date for heavyweight clash

allegedly has confirmed that Daniel Dubois vs Joe Joyce is set to be postponed yet again.

The fantastic fight between unbeaten British heavyweights was originally announced for April 11 at the O2 Arena, however when the coronavirus lockdown came into effect it was pushed back to July 11 and then to October 24.

Now, the date is going to moved once more.

Warren explained on White and Jordan on talkSPORT: “Well, he [Dubois] was supposed to fight against Joe Joyce on October 24 at the O2 Arena.

“It looks like we’re pushing that back now because we were hoping at that stage to get an audience in there.

“And we’re still liaising at the moment with the government department dealing with that.

“We’re hoping that we will have a live audience in November there, so we’re working hard to get it on.

“But obviously we’re in the government’s hands.

“The big problem is obviously we’ve got a spike at the moment, so who knows? Every day it changes.

“But we do have to have some sort of audience there to make this work.”

When asked what size crowd is needed to get the fight away, Warren replied: “Well they were talking about maybe letting us get 20/25 per cent in.

“Whether that’s gonna happen or not, I’ve got no idea now because we don’t know where we are.

“And even that’s not enough. The show was virtually sold out, so it means that 75 per cent of the people will not be able to go to the show whatever happens…

“It’s what the crowd generates.

“Tyson [Fury] against [Deontay] Wilder in his last fight in Vegas in February – it was the highest grossing heavyweight fight they’ve ever had there as far as the revenue taken on the live gate.

“So you can’t just dismiss that, you need that money to make it stack up alright.

“The guys are contracted a certain amount of money and they will obviously want that.

“We won’t be getting that type of money, and the only other way to do it is to find a site somewhere where they’re willing to put a fee up for us to take the fight to the venue.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

desperate for a crowd..

[tony1234]

Can't see significant numbers in a venue for a long while yet , things getting worse now not better. They might have to cut their money demands otherwise they won't be fighting

[Ruthless-RKO]

UK goverment won’t allow fans back to sporting events in October

By Jeff Aronow: In bad news for British boxing, British prime minister Boris Johnson has announced that he plans on reviewing the idea of allowing live sporting events in England beginning on October 1st.

Johnson admits that he hasn’t given up on the idea entirely, but he’s going to review it. Recently, there’s been an increase in cases for the COVID-19, and it’s not a good idea for sporting events to resume in front of live crowds beginning next month in England.

Johnson also said that the pilot events in September would be limited to 1,000 fans in attendance.

For fighters like Anthony Joshua, Callum Smith, and Billy Joe Saunders, what Boris Johnson is saying isn’t music to their ears. They all hoped to fight in front of limited crowds in the fall, and that doesn’t sound like it’s going to happen now.

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn hasn’t said what his Plan-B option is for Joshua’s December 12th fight against Kubrat Pulev. He was obviously counting on staging that fight in front of a limited-sized crowd in the UK.

If that’s not going to happen, Hearn will need to consider whether it’s worth it or not to stage the fight outside of the UK in the Middle East or some other foreign country that is willing to host live events.

The problem that Hearn has for the Joshua-Pulev fight is it’s not an important one that foreign countries would be interested in hosting. Pulev, 39, is an old guy who earned his IBF mandatory position by beating Hughie Fury.

The Bulgarian Pulev didn’t have to defeat a talented heavyweight to earn his IBF mandatory.

“We must revise plans to pilot larger audiences in venues later this month and review our intention to return audiences to stadiums from 1 October,” said Boris Johnson. “But that doesn’t mean we are going to scrap the program entirely. We are just going to have to review it and abridge it.”

[Coco]

The MMA are doing their shows in an island in abu dhabi or somewhere.

Fighters gotta fight

[Ruthless-RKO]

The MMA are doing their shows in an island in abu dhabi or somewhere.

Fighters gotta fight

Yeh, they're going back this weekend and staying until Khabib's fight, end of October.

No fans.

[Coco]

The MMA are doing their shows in an island in abu dhabi or somewhere.

Fighters gotta fight

Yeh, they're going back this weekend and staying until Khabib's fight, end of October.

No fans.

I guess no ticket money is the issue

[Ruthless-RKO]

The MMA are doing their shows in an island in abu dhabi or somewhere.

Fighters gotta fight

Yeh, they're going back this weekend and staying until Khabib's fight, end of October.

No fans.

I guess no ticket money is the issue

Joyce vs. Dubois is already on PPV..

But gate money is also important.., o2 can hold 20k.. i don't think it will sell out..

Could be upto £2m in gate depending on ticket prices.

[Ruthless-RKO]

New target date.

[Roco]

desperate fot a crowd..

I know, it is as bad as Fury and Theo with their big auditorium.

[cormack]

Yeh, they're going back this weekend and staying until Khabib's fight, end of October.

No fans.

I guess no ticket money is the issue

Joyce vs. Dubois is already on PPV..

But gate money is also important.., o2 can hold 20k.. i don't think it will sell out..

Could be upto £2m in gate depending on ticket prices.

They wont be allowed a crowd now , with all the covid 19 problems .
get used to studio boxing !

[Ruthless-RKO]

I guess no ticket money is the issue

Joyce vs. Dubois is already on PPV..

But gate money is also important.., o2 can hold 20k.. i don't think it will sell out..

Could be upto £2m in gate depending on ticket prices.

They wont be allowed a crowd now , with all the covid 19 problems .
get used to studio boxing !

Yup!! I'd prefer if they carried on using the York Hall.. Just looks better.

[mickey1975]

It helps UFC don’t pay very good money.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Dubois-Joyce: Terms Agreed For Closed Doors Bout, New Date Coming

Queensberry Promotions can today announce that terms have been agreed to stage the highly anticipated Heavyweight clash between Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce behind closed doors.

The titanic tussle between the two standout British Heavies will now be staged in either late November or early December, with full details to follow shortly.

Hall-of-Fame Promoter Frank W was initially sceptical about running the event without fans but has decided that in light of the recent coronavirus developments it is important for both the boxers and the fans that this fight gets made.

Warren said: “Since the government let us know we couldn’t have an audience present in October I’ve worked day and night to ensure this fight still happens.

“It’s the biggest domestic Heavyweight clash in years and it’s testament to the character of both fighters that they are willing to step up and take the fight on even with all the restrictions and obstacles in their way.

“I’m delighted that Queensberry, BT Sport and the fighters were all willing to come together to make this happen and deliver big time for British boxing fans.”

Daniel Dubois (15-0, 14KO’s) and Joe Joyce (11-0, 10KO’s) are the two British Heavyweights seen as being closest to breaking through to elite level.

Future world title bouts with superstars like Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are seen as being within reach for the winner and Warren thinks that that’s what makes the fight so exciting.

“It really is winner-takes-all,” said Warren. “In Daniel, you have a 23-year-old lad who most in world boxing consider to be the hottest young prospect in the Heavyweight division.

“If he can do to Joe Joyce what he’s done to the 15 men that came before him, he’ll be ready to go for a world title in my opinion.

“Joe might be a little older than Daniel, but in my books he’s every bit as exciting a prospect. He has so much more experience than Daniel, as an amateur, that I’d be surprised if he doesn’t go into the fight as many people’s favourite.

“If Joe wins, then he’ll be ready for world titles too.”

23-year-old Greenwich banger Dubois shares his promoters assessment that the winner will go on to fight for a world title, but is less willing to see the potential for a Joyce victory.

“Nothing’s changed from February when I first said I’d knock Joe out. It’s a tough fight, he’s a good fighter, but I’m looking to deliver another devastating performance and move on to fight for a world title.

“I’m just glad we can finally get it on. I know we’ve both been looking forward to it and I’m sure the British public are just as excited as we are for us to finally fight.

“Joe is going to find out just how explosive Dynamite really is.”

For his part, 35-year-old ‘Juggernaut’ is equally bullish about his chances for victory and concurs with his younger opponent’s view on what fans can expect from the scrap.

“The fight is finally on and I can’t wait to get my hands on this guy,” said Joe. Echoing Dubois’ sentiment, he added: “It’s going to be an explosive night.”

The rescheduled bout represents the final chapter in a saga that has seen previously arranged dates in April, July and now October cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Though today’s announcement is short on the usual details, Warren was adamant it was important to clear up confusion for ticket holders who had previously purchased tickets for the event.

“Of course I’d like to come out with all the venue and date details ready to go”, Warren said. “But the reality is, the situation is moving so fast we don’t have everything 100% confirmed.

“But the one thing we do have confirmed is that this fight will happen behind-closed-doors either in late November or early December. That means the event in October is cancelled and all ticket holders should get a refund from their ticket agent."

Whilst obviously disappointed that fans can’t be present for such an attractive match-up between two of his flagship fighters, a characteristically upbeat Warren was keen to see the bright side.

“This is the most exciting prospective fight in all of boxing right now. So let’s get it on for the fans.”

[milpool]

A damn shame this is behind closed doors but I guess I'd sooner see them get it on at an empty York Hall than not at all.

[JimStone]

Was thinking 'biggest domestic heavyweight fight for years' was a stretch with Joshua v Whyte only being last year (in my head, it turns out. Five years ago!).

[Ruthless-RKO]

Was thinking 'biggest domestic heavyweight fight for years' was a stretch with Joshua v Whyte only being last year (in my head, it turns out. Five years ago!).

We've even had Whyte-Chisora twice since then..

[THEBUTCH]

This one keeps going to and fro, but I couldn't care less about a crowd being there or not....as long as the fight happens

It's simple...ask yourself if you'd like no fights at all, or fights with no crowds