As the heavyweight division’s biggest fights continually elude the sport, the British Boxing Board of Control have announced welcome news for boxing fans today.
Olympic silver medallist Joe Joyce (8-0, 8KOs) will face off against young, wrecking machine Daniel Dubois (10-0, 9KOs) for the British heavyweight title following an agreement being reached by representatives of both parties on an event to be promoted by Frank Warren. A date and venue is yet to be confirmed in what promises to be an intriguing contest between two of the division’s quieter men.
Joyce and Dubois have both experienced title success in their short professional careers, to date. Joyce picked up the Commonwealth strap against Lenroy Thomas just under a year ago; going onto claim the vacant WBA Continental title against Joe Hanks on the Deontay Wilder Vs Tyson Fury undercard and most recently defeating former WBC titlist Bermane Stiverne in February via a 6th round TKO, albeit an older, more lethargic edition of the Haitian.
Dubois has claimed the WBC Youth title; then captured the Southern Area title with a devastating knockout win over AJ Carter; comfortably defeating Tom Little for the English strap and on his last outing, Romanian Razvan Cojanu fell victim to a 2nd round stoppage for the WBO European belt in March. Dubois takes on Richard Lartey (14-1) this weekend, arguably his stiffest test in his eleven professional fights.
Despite a similar amount of professional contests on their CVs, Joyce is the far more experienced of the two at thirty-three years old, with considerably more amateur success – winning Commonwealth, European, World and Olympic medals. Putney’s Joyce, being part of the British Lions squad for The World Series of Boxing in 2015-16 has already competed with the likes of Oleksandr Usyk and Filip Hrgovic, providing a wealth of high-level experience.
Dubois has taken a vastly different path in his search for glory. Touted as a future medal hopeful for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Dubois decided to turn professional at just nineteen-years old, signing with Frank Warren after being considered a standout in the GB amateur squad.
The fight is a huge risk for both fighters at such an early stage of their careers. It’s a highly-anticipated contest the fans will relish, but who do you think shall emerge victorious?
Article by: Adam Noble-Forcey
Follow Adam on Twitter at: @Adam4cSports