“Joe is going to stop Daniel Dubois. It’s going to be a car crash at the O2,” Sam Jones, manager of unbeaten heavyweight contender Joe Joyce.
Joe Joyce has had an absolutely terrible start to 2020. First, “The Juggernaut” saw his January fight with Marco Huck fall apart. Then, with the massive domestic showdown with Dubois all set and making Joyce forget all about the Huck disappointment, the coronavirus forced the April 11 fight to be postponed (new date, hopefully, July 11). This means Joyce has spent significant time – and money – on two back-to-back training camps without being paid for either fight.
Sam Jones, Joyce’s manager, has called the turn of events “heartbreaking,” telling Bonus Code Bets how Joyce has spent “thousands of £pounds” in training camp fees – all for zero.
“We are talking thousands and thousands of pounds and I’m not talking about small thousands – big thousands – all invested into a camp that you can’t claim back because boxers are self-employed. It’s absolutely heartbreaking,” Jones said, the interview picked up by The Evening Standard. “There was talk of fights happening behind closed doors, but it would have been unfair. Both boys deserve the biggest night of their careers, inside a packed O2 Arena. We eventually got told it was near-on impossible for the fight to go ahead and we were given July 11. It’s a worldwide disaster but things will settle down. Unless something crazy happens, I am very confident it’s going to go ahead on July 11.”
Joyce, 10-0(9) last saw action in July of last year, when he won a decision over Bryant Jennings, so to have around a full year out ahead of the big one with Dubois is obviously not ideal. Also, at age 34, Joyce is a fighter who needs to move things pretty swiftly. Nevertheless, Jones is confident his guy will get the win, the stoppage win, when the Dubois clash finally rolls around.
“It’s going to be a different date with the same result,” Jones said. “Joe is going to stop Daniel Dubois. It’s going to be a car crash at the O2 Arena and it’s only going to end one way. This is the biggest fight of Joe’s career, five or six belts on the line, the winner goes on to a guaranteed world title shot. The date has been pushed back but this fight will happen – the fans have demanded it.”
One of the most intriguing heavyweight match-ups for some time, this one really will prove to be worth the wait. Fans can expect fireworks, for sure. But will the delay favor Dubois (who boxed as recently as December) more than it does Joyce?
