Joe Joyce, the heavyweight who seemingly can’t be stopped, has named three of his favourite boxers from recent times, as well as one he likes to watch right now.
‘The Juggernaut’s stock in the sport is higher than ever. His gas tank and punch resistance were always well thought of, but many fans witnessed just how impressive both are in his recent outing against Joseph Parker. Not only that, but Joyce became the first man to stop the heavyweight from New Zealand – a short left hand in the eleventh round being the finishing touch on a sustained beating.
With an impressive skillset of his own, who has the big man been impressed by over the years? Joyce names, as Sporting News puts it, his heroes in the sport.
“I guess who was still fighting at the time would be Triple G [Golovkin] and [Floyd] Mayweather. I liked [Yuriorkis] Gamboa as well. The way he put the punches together and stuff – at a point he was on fire, and then he kind of like, I don’t know, disappeared.”
Gennady Golovkin has a record of 42 wins from 45 fights, 37 of those coming by way of knockout. The Kazakh man’s punch is as strong as his chin, and he is a two-time unified world champion. With a true throwback attitude to fighting, ‘GGG’ is your favourite boxer’s favourite boxer.
Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather shouldn’t come as a surprise on any of these lists. With a record of 50-0, some say he changed the game for fighters in terms of finances, and certainly knew how to market himself. Mayweather was a fan of the old saying ‘hit and don’t get hit’ – something Joyce himself admits that he could be better at, especially considering the division he’s in.
Former unified featherweight world champion, Gamboa, won a gold medal in the 2004 Olympics. Whilst he’s now tasted defeat to big names like Terence Crawford, Devin Haney, and Gervonta Davis, he started off his professional campaign going undefeated in 22 fights. His all-action style was a joy to watch, but opened up vulnerabilities that were ultimately found by some of the best competing today.
As for who he likes tuning into currently, Joyce chose a man who’s also known for flipping in the ring upon victory.
“Teofimo Lopez, I like watching him at the minute. He’s entertaining. I like how he does a flip at the end as well, similar to myself. I obviously know him, as well.”
Lopez caught wind of the praise, sending Joyce a message to say ‘Don’t miss my next one, champ. December 10th.’
In contrast, Joyce is without a date or opponent for now. His WBO Interim Heavyweight title in theory makes him eligible for a shot at Oleksandr Usyk, but with the Ukrainian targetting an undisputed fight with Tyson Fury next March, Joyce will either have to sit on his hands or throw them at somebody else in the ring.