Joe Joyce (15-2, 14 KOs) weighed in at 286.6 lbs, and his opponent Kash Ali (21-2, 12 KOs) weighed 238.1 pounds on Friday at the weigh-in for their ten-round fight tonight at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England. Watch the fight live on ESPN+ and TNT Sports.
The 2016 Olympic silver medalist Joyce is looking to snap his two-fight losing streak by beating the always-tough 6’6″ veteran Kash to strengthen his position to land a spot on one of His Excellency Turki Al-Sheikh’s events in Saudi Arabia.
Joyce would like to fight Joseph Parker in a rematch next, if possible, as he stopped him in the 11th round in September 2022. Parker has become a hot name recently, beating Zhilei Zhang and Deontay Wilder in back-to-back fights.
The Parker Blueprint
Those two failed to follow Joyce’s blueprint for defeating Parker by pressuring him nonstop and throwing lots of punches. Joyce wore Parker down with his high work rate and sledgehammer blows, hitting him wherever he could to take the strength out of him.
“I can’t wait show everybody how good I am and how I deserve to be at the top level,” said Joe Joyce to iFL TV about his fight tonight against Kash Ali in Birmingham, England.
Joyce’s Fighting Spirit
“Yeah, exactly. I believe in my abilities, and I deserve to be at the top levels. I’m going to show everybody it’s not time for retirement yet, and I still have more to do. He’s a tricky boxer, a heavyweight, and skillful. It’ll be a good fight while it lasts.
“I never overlook any opponent, but styles make fights, and I need to rebuild a little bit. It’s good that I’ve had this fight before I got into another massive fight again. Exactly. You’ve got to stay active. I hope to be out multiple times this year and get some good wins.
“Possibly, it depends on how I’m feeling,” said Joyce when asked if he might call out some of the big-name heavyweights after his fight tonight against Kash Ali. “There are a few in mind. A lot are tied up right now, but we’re going to have to see what’s offered on behalf of my team, promoter and see what’s on the table.
“It’s wherever offers the most money, and Saudi if offering the money to put these big fights on that have been struggling to be made up until now. Turki Al-Sheikh has managed to put them on to capture the imagination by creating these big fights. So yeah, I would love to be involved in some way at some time,” said Joyce.
