Promoter Frank Warren says Joe Joyce (13-0, 12 KOs) would be an excellent option for Anthony Joshua to fight if Oleksandr Usyk is busy and unable to fight him in their rematch due to him defending his country of Ukraine.
Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) is in need of an opponent for his next fight, and his promoter Eddie Hearn is already talking about his intention to begin looking at alternative options if Usyk doesn’t turn from the war in Ukraine.
Warren says a fight between Joyce and Joshua is one that he would sit down to put together in a heartbeat. It’s a massive one that would sell out Wembley Stadium for sure.
With Joyce, he’s not someone that would intentionally drag his feet and choose not to help with the promotion of the fight as we’re seeing with another high-profile that will be taking place next month.
It’s possible that Hearn may choose to pick a safe fight for Joshua to fight if Usyk can’t face him in the rematch in May or June. Joshua’s self-confidence may have been severely dented in his loss to Usyk last September in his one-sided 12 round unanimous decision defeat at the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in North London.
It’s possible that instead of Hearn agreeing to let Joshua fight the 2016 Olympic silver medalist Joyce, he’ll target lower-hanging fruit to give him a sure-thing win.
“I think the public would definitely buy into AJ-Joe Joyce,” Warren said to iFL TV on a fight between Joshua and Joe Joyce.
“We’d make that in a heartbeat, Joe would fight him in a heartbeat. What a great domestic bust-up that is, let’s get our heads together and we’ll get that done.”
It’s improbable that Hearn would be open to letting Joshua fight a tough heavyweight like Joyce, particularly after the way he dispatched his last two opponents Carlos Takam and Daniel Dubois.
Hearn will probably pick one of these heavyweights for Joshua to fight:
Agit Kabayel
Zhang Zhilei
Demsey Mckean
Martin Bakole
Michael Hunter
Johnathan Guidry
Hughie Fury
Ali Eren Demirezen
“Of course, he can come along to the show,” Warren said about Joshua being welcome at the Tyson Fury vs. Dillian Whyte fight on April 23rd.
“He’s been a guest at loads of my shows before he turned professional, he used to come along to the shows. He knows what to do, pick up the phone and we’ll sort him out.”