Joe Joyce has echoed the opinions of boxing fans around the world by calling for Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk to ‘just fight.’
The two heavyweight champions have been in prolonged negotiations to put all four major belts on the line, with Usyk bringing the WBA, WBO and IBF to the table against Fury’s WBC.
Despite the bout being one of the most sought-after and legacy-defining the sport can currently offer, things fell apart this week and both teams have announced it won’t go ahead next.
Joyce – who holds the WBO Interim title that will grant him a shot at Usyk soon – questioned why, via Sky Sports.
“I’m hoping that it’s going to happen. It’s the undisputed [heavyweight title fight]. When was the last undisputed? They need to have that fight. It needs to happen.
Then you can open up some more fights. Can you just get the fight made please guys? I thought it was on. What’s the reason this time?”
To answer the question, the last fight of its kind in the division was in 1999, when Lennox Lewis beat Evander Holyfield – a rematch after a contentious draw earlier that year – to unite all of the major titles and become undisputed.
Still, ‘The Juggernaut’ is rightly focused on his own career. He wants his shot at Usyk, which, in the current rotation of mandatory challengers, will come after Daniel Dubois (WBA) and before Filip Hrgovic (IBF).
“I’ve got the WBO Interim, I want the full title. Then people can challenge me for it, be in some great fights and then we can all live happily ever after.”
“Everyone wants to see undisputed. It’s been such a long time. Once that fight’s happened, then there’s another undisputed fight queued up.”
Joyce is next out against China’s Zhilei Zhang on April 15 in London, and will undoubtedly call out either Fury or Usyk should he win.