Joe Joyce doesn’t feel like a rematch with Daniel Dubois is necessary, believing his domestic rival hasn’t shown anything since that would make the outcome any different.
Joyce used his experience and relentless power to stop Dubois in the tenth round of their 2020 contest – the young fighter taking a knee and missing the referee’s count due to a fractured eye socket.
Since then, both men have climbed the heavyweight ranks. An impressive win over Joseph Parker saw Joyce become the WBO Interim Champion, and Dubois’ trip to the States to defeat Trevor Bryan means he’s now WBA Regular Champion.
Most recently, ‘Dynamite’ was fighting at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium where South African Kevin Lerena came worryingly close to spoiling the party.
The champion was down three times in the first round – a combination of a shot catching him on the top of the head and what appears to be an injured knee. Thankfully for the Dubois hype train, he regained composure and knocked Lerena out in the third.
Speaking to ID Boxing News, Joyce said the performance showed little improvement.
“I didn’t really see too much progression in that fight. He didn’t look very good. He looked like he was getting stopped … He was in a pretty serious situation then.
“His leg’s playing up, he’s had three knockdowns in the first round – that doesn’t look good. I think his opponent kind of let him back in there.”
On the idea of a rematch between the pair – something that has been mentioned by their shared promoter, Frank Warren, in the past – Joyce is in no rush.
“I think I beat him pretty convincingly, so it doesn’t really need to be revisited. It could be a rematch down the line but there are a lot better fights out there for me.”
As the world titles look set to belong to one man this year once Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk face off, both Joyce and Dubois are primed for a shot in the aftermath.