Joe Joyce doesn’t have too much time to feel sorry for fellow British heavyweight Anthony Joshua, though he does believe the former unified champion is “good for the sport.”
Both big men have suffered defeats in their recent outings. Joyce came unstuck against Zhilei Zhang in April and has a chance for redemption at the OVO Arena, Wembley on September 23.
Joshua, meanwhile, lost back-to-back fights with WBO, WBA and IBF champion Oleksandr Usyk before a win over Jermaine Franklin and is now just days away from a rematch with Dillian Whyte.
Speaking to Pro Boxing Fans, Joyce was asked if now, having taken a loss, he can relate to the position in which Joshua finds himself.
“Well, yeah, ah, let’s all feel sorry for Joshua now. Do you know how loaded he is? He’s set for life!”
Joyce, a 2016 Olympic silver medalist who spent time with 2012’s gold medal-winning Joshua as an amateur, goes on to asses his rival’s legacy.
“He’s inspired a new generation of heavyweight boxers and off the back of the Olympic Games in London, everyone got behind him.
He’s selling out arenas and stuff. He’s had it all his way and now it’s not going his way he’s all ‘oh, poor me,’ but he’s got a great fight now to get back in there with Dillian Whyte and hopefully that will be good.”
Joyce even hopes he might bump into Joshua again one day soon, and eyes up a potential clash further down the line. The pair faced off in the amateur ranks with ‘AJ’ coming out on top.
“I hear he’s this side of the pond so it would be good to bump into him again. I remember the [Team GB amateur] days it’s cool we got on and stuff and I want him to do well and I’m sure he wants me to do well as long as it’s not too much of a threat, but it’s boxing. Maybe we’ll fight one day, I dunno.”
‘The Juggernaut’ was then asked if it would be awkward between the pair given some back and forth in the past.
“It would be cool, I have a dream that we went running funnily enough. So hopefully I do see him and we do get to fight one day. He’s good for the sport.”
In order for a fight between the two to materialise down the line, both men need to win their crucial upcoming rematches.
Many believe Joyce has got his work cut out to overturn the shock defeat he suffered the first time around, while Joshua is a strong favourite for his fight with Whyte.