Joe Joyce: What’s next?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Joe Joyce: “I Can Rebuild and Come Back, It Wasn’t a Grueling Fight”

"I'm going to [take] a bit of time and go on holiday before I reflect and review where I went wrong," ‘The Juggernaut’ said in an interview with iFL TV immediately after slipping to 15-2 with 14 quick finishes on Saturday night.

"I'm feeling good, I'm feeling okay and it's not the end of the world.

“I can rebuild and come back. After all, I’ve had harder, more challenging spars, it wasn’t a grueling fight.”

"I still feel fresh,” he continued, “and that I can do some more sparring and rounds.

“I’m feeling okay. I'll just have to lick my wounds and come back stronger, but I’ll probably have to go another route now.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

Frank W on Joe Joyce: “He Seriously Needs to Consider [Retirement]; Not Going to Be an Easy Journey Back”

“Fighters lose and come back,” Warren said. “I’ve seen that on many occasions. He’s 38, but he’s not got a lot of miles on the clock as far as being a pro boxer is concerned. It was his 16th or 17th fight. We’ll see. It’s up to him.

“He seriously needs to consider it (retirement), because it’s not going to be an easy journey back. There are some good fights out there but none of those fights are easy.”

“He was doing alright up to the first two rounds,” Warren said. “He was negating the southpaw style of Zhang but unfortunately [he had a] lapse of concentration and things moved the other way. He had a little bit of an exchange and got caught with a world-class punch. It was a world-class knockout.”

“He was doing alright up to the first two rounds,” Warren said. “He was negating the southpaw style of Zhang but unfortunately [he had a] lapse of concentration and things moved the other way. He had a little bit of an exchange and got caught with a world-class punch. It was a world-class knockout.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

Joyce was never considered a Frank boy.

He’s never cared about him.

Only signed him to lose to Dubois.. that backfired.

He prefers Adeleye over Joyce.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Joyce: “This Is Not It For Me; I’ve Got Plenty More In The Tank; Open To Rematch With Dubois”

“It was a risk too far,” Joyce said. “Maybe I could’ve gone another route, but I decided to take the challenge and paid the price. But this is not it for me. I’ve got plenty more in the tank, so you should see me again out there. So, I don’t know. I’m just gonna have to have a bit of time off, reflect and watch the fight back, and then come back new and improved.”

“Well, Zhang is a great fighter and he is a great southpaw,” Joyce said. “He’s a former [Olympic] silver medalist and he’s probably avoided by most, so it was probably a bit too far of a risk because, you know, I’m not used to fighting southpaws. I hadn’t fought a southpaw for a long time. But yeah, he’s a great fighter … and he’s avoided for a reason, so it’s just, yeah, just disappointed because I got myself into the position I was and then it was obviously a risk too far and I paid the price.”

“I’m gonna have to, you know, talk with my team and see what’s the best route,” Joyce said. “But this is, obviously, I’m disappointed. I’ll have to reflect and watch the fight back … and see what mistakes I made. Like, yeah. But hats off to Zhang. He’s a great fighter. And I’m sure he’s gonna be in some great fights next, but I’m gonna have to rebuild and yeah, come back and go a different route.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

Would not honestly not mind Joyce-Dubois rematch.

Maybe they both pick up a win.. then have a rematch.

[coneye]

Easy for us to say he should retire , but to do that you need money , has he earnt enough has he got a trade or vocation to go to , lots of factors , to take into account , he should definetly have a big rethink on where he's going who he's gonna fight , but retirement may not be an option just yet .

Still has a big enough name to grab a couple of money spinners i would think , just got to make sure he's well paid for them and whatever team he goes with make the right discisions , such has stay away from hard hitting southpaws,

[Grilling Machine]

Joyce was never considered a Frank boy.

He’s never cared about him.

Only signed him to lose to Dubois.. that backfired.

He prefers Adeleye over Joyce.

Exactly. Even Haye seemed to have more concern for him.

After the Dubois win I felt Queensberry kept him on primarily to steer away from Fury.

[Controversial]

I doubt Joyce will retire but hard to see what's left for him considering he's 38 and coming off a bad knockout. A different story if he were 10 years younger maybe but time isn't on his side. People weren't queuing up to fight him before so what incentive is there for anyone fighting him now? He doesn't have a belt and if someone beats him people will say he's past it but if they lose they are risking their own career. It's clear they can't reinvent his style, he often won fights by out-toughing opponents not because he was skilful. They can find guys he can beat of course but ultimately will he become a world champ, very doubtful.

[TheLeprechaun]

He was getting hit with a lot of shots he didn't see vs Zhang and that shut down his offense and of course hurt him. So as bad as Joyce is, I think he could be looking much worse than he is right now. Yes hes woeful in many areas, looking like hes fighting underwater. I still think that if he can get belief back in his chin by taking the usual leather I'm sure he takes in sparring, then I could see him being offered the likes of Anderson, Makhmudov, Gassiev. Fights against Dubois, Bakole, Whyte and Ajagba are winnable. Frazier Clarke, Wardley and Adeleye are there at British level and I'm not impressed by any of them so I could see him winning those. It's a poor division right now. No reason to give it up at all.

[Pukka Cheese]

Yoka, Dubois.

[stevec@france]

I chose retire on the poll - but feel he wont ..

[Ruthless-RKO]

There's still fights I'd like to see him in.

I think he still beats a lot of them..

Zhang has set the bar.

a 20st man punching you dead in the face.. Doesn't matter what your chin is made off.

38 is old, but it's not that old for HW's..

Zhang himself is 40.

[Monzon83]

Jack it in unless he fancies being a punchbag for anyone half decent. His deficiencies aren’t going to improve with age.

I hope he’s made some good money and he seems like an intelligent guy. I hope he gets out and finds something else to do because I don’t want to see him ruin his health, it’s not worth it.

[tonyevs]

Its unreasonable to say Joyce should retire after losing to Zhang.

Its not as if Zhang showed us a strength in his game we didn`t already know about - its not as if Joyce showed us a weakness we hadn`t known about previously.

Zhang is a monster; a good boxer with fast hands and a huge punch those early first rounds.
Joyce is a face first slow fisted guy with bags of stamina and a huge heart .. a heavyweight Dennis Andries almost.
No chin is unbreakable if your hit hard and correctly.

Joshua met his cryptonite in Usyk. In two fights Usyks strengths of great boxing brain, fitness and heart were too much for Joshua. And Joshua is seen as having enough potential to still carry on ... avoid Usyk, but against other belt holders his own strengths may be enough.

Joyce like Joshua simply met a superior fighter to themselves. Its not like Joyce quit for a 2nd time as Dubois has.

So what next for Joyce. A busy 2024 and 3-4 fights over guys from a level or two below world class to build confidence. A new team to move away from the face-first approach and find a different defence and offence as George Foreman did when he made his 2nd comeback.

[Ezzard]

A couple of lower level fights. Then see what opportunities come his way.

If his punch resistance has gone then he will be in trouble. But if not he's still a handful for most.

[Frostieballs]

Joyce vs. Chisora
Joyce vs. Parker
Joyce vs. Dubois
Joyce vs. Cashout (assuming he wins the above)

[spudder56]

British clash with frazer Clark to see how much ambition either have got loser to retire

[Joson]

My guess is that promoters will now treat him as a stepping stone for up-and-coming prospects. First he'll get a couple easy tune-up wins, and then comes the "cash out" fight he probably can't win.

Frazer Clarke, Bakhodir Jalolov, and Jared Anderson are examples of guys who would play "A" side against Joyce in a cash out fight. After losing to any of these guys, Joyce would probably retire. He has options in life besides boxing.

Of course, should Joyce surprise everyone and beat the "A" side fighter - whoever that is - then he'd be back in contention for a shot at the world title. Either way, though, he'll never regain the credibility and market appeal he had prior to the Zhang debacles.

[tony1234]

The new Chisora if he carries on, he's below elite level and his style of fighting means he will always now be in danger of getting his eye smashed in again.

[stevec@france]

the problem is JJ thinks he can get a title shot ....

[jameswilson]

the problem is JJ thinks he can get a title shot ....

Not unreasonable to think he can get a mandatory shot at whoever is champ.

[jamesmcdonnell]

I just don't see the point In continuing, at 38 he's not going to improve and is going to get slower and his reflexes and fitness will worsen.

He's not good enough to beat the best in the division.

If he needs money, fight some lower level guys and then jack it in, bug he needs to be realistic about his prospects.

[veriton]

Don't know why, but I'd love to see Joyce v Nathan Gorman

[tonyevs]

He's not good enough to beat the best in the division.

Or more correctly - he isn't good enough to beat one of the best in the division.

He'd likely give AJ a test .. Wilder or Ruiz unlikely to do what Zhang did to him. Who knows what Fury has left nowadays.

A loss against 1 opponent doesn't mean he's flushed - just as a win over 1 opponent doesn't mean you'd beat the rest in your division.

[Boxerbeetle]

I suppose the ‘good’ thing about the current heavyweight division is the top guys are all pretty crap, so it’s not like there’s no way back for JJ. They’re all perfectly beatable, if he can convince one of them to face him.