Joe Joyce Considered Toughest Fight Out There For Usyk

By James Slater - 04/01/2023 - Comments

Team-Usyk Waiting On Daniel Dubois

While it’s entirely possible WBA/IBF/WBO heavyweight champ Oleksandr Usyk will fight his WBA mandatory, Daniel Dubois next, Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk says a fight with Joe Joyce is the toughest fight out there for his man. Krassyuk, speaking with Talk Sport during a weekend that will see the ring return of Anthony Joshua, said that Joyce would in his opinion beat Tyson Fury if the two got it on.

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As far as the Dubois fight being next for Usyk, Krassyuk says he is very anxious to avoid two straight fights falling apart for Usyk. As fans know, the Fury unification showdown fell apart (we hope not for good but a number of fans have simply had enough of all the back and forth stuff that went on in the negotiation period for that fight), and Krassyuk says he wants 100 percent assurance Dubois is fully fit and able to fight Usyk with no problems.

Dubois badly tore his knee in his December fight with Kevin Lerena, and Krassyuk is concerned the injury may resurface when Dubois begins training if he is not quite ready to do so.

“The issue we are trying to work out now, which is really substantial for us is [Dubois’] health condition,” Krassyuk said. “We all saw what kind of injury he suffered in his last fight and it leaves us with the idea that this fight made some damage to his health and he has to recover 100 percent to start the new preparation. Our biggest risk and threat that we want to avoid is when the deal is done, the date is fixed and we start the promotions and Daniel puts some pressure on himself in the gym, suddenly the injury comes back again. That would jeopardise the show and cancel it again and we want to avoid it because it will be really bad for Usyk to have two cancellations in a row.”

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It would indeed be terrible for Usyk, one of the best fighters on the planet, a man who has already wasted so much time trying to reach a deal for a fight with Fury, to suffer a second pulled fight. Dubois, meanwhile, cannot afford to go into the Usyk fight unless he has expert medical assurance that his knee is 100 percent.

We await Usyk’s next fight with interest of course. But as for that possible fight with Joyce, Krassyuk says Usyk would be facing the “toughest contender out of the heavyweights” if he faced Joyce.

“If you asked me who would win between Fury and Joyce, I would put my bet on Joyce,” Krassyuk said. “I have the feeling he is very capable of defeating Tyson Fury.”

Usyk, who defeated Joyce on points in an amateur fight Krassyuk says was a “dangerous” bout, is a man “The Juggernaut” very much wants to fight again. Who knows, a Usyk-Joyce fight, or a Fury-Joyce fight, could prove to be the big one this year.

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