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The fight between Joseph Joyce and Daniel Dubois is a great story. Heavyweight prospects didn’t wait until they hit some kind of peak form and become more meaningful, but they immediately decided to find out who is stronger and why.
What kind of fighters?
Joseph Joyce is only partly a perspective for the future. First, the Brit is already 35 years old. A respectful age, even for a heavyweight. Usyk himself is younger. At the same time, with the Ukrainian, Joyce constantly has some kind of intersection.
When Joe fought at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Usyk was already a boxing professional, but they managed to meet at the semi-professional level. Yes, that is a paradox. In 2013, before turning pro, Usik boxed in the World Series of Boxing. On March 1 of the same year, Alexander met with Joe.
The fight turned out to be exciting. A small Ukrainian stung his opponent, trapping him in the opposite direction. He used his advantages over a large opponent and, compared to Usik, clumsy. Alexander confidently won on points in five rounds.
It’s worth saying that while the boy’s victory over the giant seems impressive, the current Joyce and the 2013 version of Joyce are different fighters. Alexander at that time was already an Olympic champion and one of the top three professional boxers of Ukraine in the near future. Joe is just a promising guy. Despite the age.
Now promoters are seriously saying that the winner of the Joyce – Dubois pairing can fight Usik for the WBO title. We are not talking about justice, it is, as always, a relative thing. Usyk earned his status, became an absolute, and still didn’t fight for the belt right away. The winner of this pair will only become the champion of Great Britain.
Joyce doesn’t feel much competition from the pros. He has eleven fights, all of them victorious, ten of them by knockout. 90% of the first wins are impressive. The main thing is not to look at the level of the opposition. There are two great names on the record: Bermaine Steven and Bryant Jennings. The first began to end in 2015. Then he was defeated by an emergency knockout of Wilder, did not box for two years, went to Joyce – and flew again, but a little later – in the sixth round.
The latter looked very decent to Joseph, making him the only one the Brit could not turn down so far. Otherwise, not opposition, but a nightmare, but a guy with a punch, a silver medalist at the 2016 Olympics, where in the final he lost to another prospect: Tony Joke from France. I mean, you can, but you haven’t tried everything yet.
Dubois is a slightly different story. The 23-year-old Brit was highly predicted by fans and for a reason. The guy lost five fights out of over seventy and finished 65 of them ahead of schedule. It is not just dynamite in your hands, but something much more impressive and destructive.
Daniel was England’s main hope for gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He’s been compared to Anthony Joshua, Audley Harrison and Lennox Lewis (yes, Lewis didn’t box for the UK at the Olympics). But the young man decided otherwise and turned professional in 2017:
Daniel Dubois
“I would very much like to compete in the Olympics and compete for gold. If the Olympics were next year. But I can’t wait four years. I know that in four years I will grow as a professional as a boxer much more than I would as an amateur. By 2020 I plan to become the professional world champion. “
As we can see, the plans for the championship have not yet come true, but with the Olympics, perhaps, the right decision. Considering that it was postponed for another year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
For three years, Daniel played fifteen professional fights. He won it all, fourteen of them completed ahead of schedule. I would like to repeat the phrase about the level of opposition, because here it is even more relevant. Yes, in Joyce’s case, there are at least two names of veterans who, although they finished, could be opposed to something in theory, but here there is a gap.
Razvan Kozhanu, as expected, flew in the second round, and Kevin Johnson, whom even Klitschko had to chase in the ring, also did his trick here: The American suffered 10 rounds, but did not fall. Basically, that’s it.
In fact, the boys are the first serious rivals between them. Big, strong, with dexterity and blows and at full dawn of strength.
What is Usik doing here?
Alexander is a mandatory contender for the WBO belt. Dubois is as close to him as possible in the rankings. In theory this doesn’t affect anything now, because Usyk should fight for the title in the next fight. But as practice shows, it is worth listening to the promoters and not looking at the ratings.
Eddie Hearn said that perhaps the winner of the Joyce – Dubois pairing will face Usyk for the WBO title. This, of course, is not true if Alexander keeps his word and makes no concessions to Josué. In this case, Anthony will have to drop the belt and then Alexander will meet another contender for the belt. And Dubois is next in line.
In general, it all depends on the desire of Usik and the work of the promoter. If Alexander refuses additional payments and demands a belt, then a Ukrainian fight with Joshua or a Ukrainian and those whom the promoter will turn against him.
In fact, the Usik – Joyce or Dubois duel is a super fight. It will definitely not be easy for the Ukrainian.
So who is the favorite?
Bookmakers trust the superiority of youth over Joseph Joyce. You can bet on Dubois for an average of 1.2. In his older compatriot, an average of four. We can say that Daniel is the clear favorite of the fight, although everything can be more competitive.
Joyce clearly improved after the fight with Usik. Silver in the Olympics and a single loss in the semi-professional is proof of that. Everything seems more competitive than what the bookmakers predict. It’s simple: for the guys, this fight is the first serious test. Before that, they both had problems with seasoned rivals and no problems with the middle peasants.
Yes, Joyce is an older boxer and if it comes down to the judges’ decision, Dubois will be more promising for the promoters. But given the level of charge on your fists, the likelihood of someone being knocked out is higher. In fact, it will all depend on experience and the willingness to turn on immediately: work competently in defense, do not panic and do your thing.
Victory will be won by whoever is the first to kiss. Perhaps in the seventh round we will already know the final winner of the battle.
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