Two British heavyweights who each still enjoy big-name status, will hit the comeback road this coming weekend. On Saturday, Joe Joyce will attempt the first stage of the rebuilding process following his crushing, back-to-back stoppage defeats at the hands of Zhilei Zhang. While on Sunday evening, Dillian Whyte will return to action for the first time since his November 2022 win over Jermain Franklin.
Whyte as we know has been cleared to box, his failed drugs test of last August ruled to have come about due to a “contaminated supplement.” Whyte was of course set to fight Anthony Joshua in a big rematch, before all hell broke loose for him due to the hot test. Now, Whyte, like Joyce, will attempt to put the bad stuff behind him and get back into contention for big fights.
Joyce, 15-2(14) will face big underdog Kash Ali, 21-2(12) on Saturday, in what should in all honestly be a pretty easy and straightforward night’s work for “The Juggernaut” as he gets rolling again. Ali is taking a big step up in class here, the 32 year old’s biggest fight to date his losing fight with David Price. Fans may recall how Ali was chucked out of the March 2019 fight due to repeated bites he inflicted on Price. Look for Joyce to get Ali out of there, bites, attempted bites, or no bites, in quick order in Birmingham.
As for what could come after, Joyce has called for a return fight with Joseph Parker, Joyce being the only man to have ever stopped the resurgent Parker. Unless those two losses to Zhang have taken a lot out of Joyce (this a real possibility) and unless age has caught up with Joe (at age 38 Joyce is no spring chicken), he could go on to feature in a couple more big fights yet.
Whyte, at age 35 also not having too much time to play with, is currently 29-3(19) and he did win his last fight; this over Franklin in a close one. Whyte will face reliable, high-class journeyman Christian Hammer on Sunday night – this Sunday being St. Patrick’s Day, the fight taking place in Ireland. Hammer, 22-10(17) has been in with some big names, and he does hold a win over the aforementioned Price, and Hammer can be durable in there. Really, Hammer is what you could call the perfect comeback foe for Whyte.
Whyte, who also holds a win over Joseph Parker, still believes he can beat the big names of the division. Interestingly, Joshua said prior to his crushing win over Francis Ngannou that the return fight between he and Whyte can still happen. Maybe. Whyte also wants to fight Ngannou, and in today’s crazy world where pretty much anything can seemingly happen in the sport of boxing, this one could also happen.
Whyte, like Joyce, will get the win at the weekend (probably by mid-rounds stoppage against 36 year old Hammer), but it’s what happens next that fans will want to see. Who knows, maybe Whyte and Joyce could wind up fighting each other one day soon!