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Joe Joyce’s Manager Denies Claims Tyson Fury Date Was Too Early

Written by Kerr Ferguson on 27th October 2022.

Joe Joyce and Tyson Fury

Despite fans being told Joe Joyce wouldn’t be ready to face Tyson Fury in early December, his management has stated otherwise.

Much has been made of Tyson Fury’s opponent choice. First, an undisputed bout with Oleksandr Usyk looked certain. When that was tabled until next year, Fury called out Anthony Joshua, who, to some surprise, accepted.

The negotiations ultimately broke down though, and after a brief flirtation with Mahmoud Charr, ‘The Gypsy King’ announced he would be fighting Derek Chisora for the third time in his career.

All the while, Joe Joyce was becoming the most hyped heavyweight in the division with a knockout win over Joseph Parker. Now 37 years old, ‘The Juggernaut’ wants title shots, but we were told by Frank Warren, their shared promoter, that Fury’s December 3rd date was too soon. Joyce himself even said on Twitter that it ‘was tight’, but the Chief Operating Officer of his management company, S-JAM Boxing, has stated that they would have made it happen regardless.

Speaking to Boxing Social, Shane Watson said that if they had been offered the fight, Joyce would have been put into camp to make the date.

“Ultimately, we never got offered the Fury fight in December. As much as people said [Joyce wasn’t] ready, but there are two fighters that we would have put him back into camp for early and that would have been Joshua if he was on December 17th, which he’s not, and the other would’ve been Fury, who was on December 3rd. We never got the opportunity, but that’s fine.”

“I can imagine if you’re gonna fight Usyk in March, which he is, you’re not gonna want to fight Joe Joyce in December because that’s going to be a hard fight and a hard camp, so you want a bit of an easier touch, which is fine. But, speaking to Frank, it looks like we could get the winner of Fury – Usyk in the summer. Well they have to, or give up the belt anyway.”

Alas, fans will just have to hope that the Fury – Joyce fight be made in the future. With ‘The Juggernaut’ now WBO Interim Champion he is, as Watson states, knocking on the door – and we know that he’s a hard man to deter.