Tyson Fury believes he can get his countryman Joe Joyce over the line in a rematch with Zhilei Zhang.
The second fight between the pair has just been made official, with Joyce attempting to right the wrong of his April 15 performance that ended in a referee’s stoppage due to an increasingly swelling eye.
Zhang struggled to miss with his powerful left hand on the night, and served Joyce the injury that would see him lose his first fight as a pro.
The Brit activated his contractual right to a rematch in early May, and will face Zhang for a second time on September 23 in London to try and win his WBO Interim World title back.
Fury – who currently holds the WBC world title and has done since 2020 – took to social media to offer Joyce sparring, claiming he had the secret to beating ‘Big Bang’ and joking it would only cost him £100,000 per round.
“This is a message to big Joe Joyce. Joe, I saw you’ve got the Zhang fight coming up again. If you want some proper southpaw sparring from someone who’s bigger, fatter, quicker, harder puncher, everything than Zhang, please come up to Morecambe and do some sparring with me. It can only improve you. It will make it better.
And trust me on this, I’ve got a secret for you and I know how to beat that Zhang. Chop him down like an old oak tree. The offer’s there, Joe. Get yourself down to Morecambe Bay and do as many rounds as you want with myself. I won’t charge you a lot – just a hundred grand a round.”
The pair have previously sparred many rounds, with Joyce complimenting ‘The Gypsy King’ by saying even when he was 30 stone he couldn’t land a glove.
The Joyce-Zhang rematch is a welcome announcement on the heavyweight scene given the lack of action so far this year. Fury is expected out around the same time in what their mutual promoter, Frank Warren, calls a ‘game-changing’ fight.