Unbeaten heavyweight contender Joe Joyce raised a few eyebrows when he weighed-in for last night’s warm-up fight with Germany’s Michael Wallisch. Joyce tipped-in at a career-heavy 270 pounds, this some 14 pounds heavier than he weighed for his win over Bryant Jennings.
But the extra weight didn’t affect Joyce one bit; in fact, he lived up to his “Juggernaut” nickname and rolled right over Wallisch, stopping him with three knockdowns, the win coming in as many rounds.
Joyce has done his bit to get ready for the massive all-British showdown with Daniel Dubois (postponed due to the pandemic, now set for October 24th) and now Dubois must come through okay in his tune-up against Erik Pfeifer, who he will fight on August 29th. Dubois couldn’t help but have a dig at Joyce when he saw his rival’s 270 pounds – “he looks a bit chubby,” Dubois said.
Joyce, though, looked great last night (albeit against an overmatched foe) and though the 2016 Olympic silver medal winner said after despatching Wallisch that he will be lighter after a full camp, that his preparations were not ideal, what with the coronavirus lockdown making things awkward, he showed he is a heavyweight in every sense of the word. Joyce is a big, big guy and he is probably ideally suited to the 255 or 260-pound mark.
Certainly, there was nothing wrong with Joyce’s power last night. And if Joyce can catch Dubois on the chin or to the body the way he hammered Wallisch, we will have a fascinating fight on our hands on October 24 – very possibly a brutal slugfest type of fight. Both Joyce, 11-0(10), and Dubois, 14-0(13) can whack with authority and the October fight might come down to who lands a bomb first.
Dubois is the much younger man at age 22 to Joyce’s 34, and Dubois and his fans feel he will be quicker than Joyce. That may be, but who has the better chin and ability to take a shot? We don’t yet know the answer. Rest assured, both men will get hit in the October fight. Let’s just hope Dubois takes care of business against Pfeifer next month.
Then it will be bombs away.
