Unbeaten, WBO #1, WBC #2, IBF #6 heavyweight Joe Joyce (14-0, 13 KOs) returned from a one year layoff with a fourth round stoppage of perennial gatekeeper Christian Hammer (27-10, 17 KOs) at the OVO Arena in London. Joyce dropped Hammer in late in round three and then put him down three times in round four to end it. Time was 1:20. Joyce successfully defended his WBC Silver and WBO International belts.
Former world champion Zolani Tete (30-4, 23 KOs) brutally kayoed Jason Cunningham (31-7, 7 KOs) in round four to claim Cunningham’s Commonwealth and IBF International junior featherweight titles. Tete dropped Cunningham in round four then laid him out with his follow-up barrage.
Unbeaten lightweight Mark Chamberlain (11-0, 7 KOs) outscored Marc Vidal (13-3-5, 5 KOs) over ten rounds to claim the IBF European title.
Well that was unnecessary.
Anyone surprised? Basically, a sparring session for Joyce to make some cash in the bank.
Well he was supposed to lose to Dubois and he didn’t so now these promoters don’t know what to do with him. I don’t think it’s his or his team’s fault. He looks very slow and plodding but it’s deceiving because he is so big and strong. Almost like Foreman when he beat Moorer. He’s a tough out for anyone and if you lose to him it will look bad. Gonna be tough for him to get a fight with one of the top heavyweights.
He reminds me of Wlad. Nothing he does is all that flashy. He’s basically a one-two puncher, but he’s ruthlessly effective. While Wlad had a good left hook to go in the arsenal, Joyce is wholly committed to the jab/cross. He’s one guy who I think Fury might have a hard time with just because he’s so disciplined to only use the skills he’s mastered.
So you’re saying Fury lied about his retirement.
ridiculous. team joyce needs to do better
Joyce is so clumsy and his defense is going to catch him out sooner or later. As expected Hammer was not anything more than a warmup fight. Hope to see Joyce against a decent fighter next, he does seem to up his game then.
“Joyce is so clumsy and his defense is going to catch him out sooner or later.”
Agreed. He is also painfully slow. Looks like he’s submerged in water when he lets the hands go. Joyce-Joshua could be somewhat interesting though if AJ gets by Usyk. I don’t think Joyce is all that great, but Joshua has shown enough vulnerability that Joyce may actually have a shot at winning that.
Did you watch Joyce fight Hrgovic? That was a great fight when they did it before and it’d be worth watching again. This time as a sanctioned pro fight over 12 rounds.
Brainchild, Joyce v Hrgovic would be a good PRO fight. Choose Joyce again.
They thought Zolani was done after Casimero. They were wrong. Wouldn’t be surprised if he went back down and got his old belt back once Inoue vacates.
Aw, c’mon… “Joyce Nails Hammer” would’ve been a far better headline…
Opportunity lost, indeed.
Joyce couldn’t beat Jerry Quarry, Oscar Bonavena, Joe Bugner, Tommy Morrison, Ray Mercer, Gerry Cooney, Derrick Jefferson, or John Ruiz. Just not impressed.
…I’d pick him against most of those guys. Maybe that’s just me though.
I’d pick over all those guys. The guys with big power like Cooney, Morrison, and maybe even Jefferson might have a chance at reaching him and knocking him out, but I’d still make Joyce a favorite. Dubois hits a ton and Joyce never seemed to have problems with the power.
I’d pick him over Jefferson with room to spare with the Dubois fight as reference. Jefferson could ko an elephant if he caught him in the right spot, but he was easy to hit as well and didn’t take the best shot. I’m thinking the Morrison that beat slow, plodding Foreman would give Joyce problems but Tommy had the same problem Jefferson had.
I would man… I mean, most of those guys are way past their prime, and some of ’em are dead. I think Joyce’d stand a chance against a corpse…
Instead of moving up he should move down for making this fight. ‘’Contenders’’ have to do better. This does nothing but turn boxing fans off.
Joyce was not impressive. I know he was off a year but at 36 looked very slow and no defense.
There was talk that Denotay would be facing Joyce for his comeback fight. Deontay would smoke him out within the first round and we would never hear from Joyce again.
Nope. Couldn’t disagree more. Wilder *could* beat Joyce… but Joyce is the kind of guy who could eat his punches and break him down the same way Fury did. His manner of attack would be different, but Wilder has a bad habit of getting outworked in fights.
To me, Joyce vs. Wilder is a very intriguing matchup. Joyce could indeed break Wilder down like Fury, but Joyce’s defense is terrible. So far he has shown an excellent chin. Still, look at the shots Christian Hammer was landing on him. Particularly, that 1st right hand he landed on Joyce was right on the button, and to his credit he took it. But getting hit like that by Deontay Wilder is an entirely different ballgame.
We don’t know how much Wilder has left after the beating he took in the 3rd Fury fight, but this potential fight isn’t a walk in the park for either one IMO.
Johnny – Recon Wilder is finished. The younger Wilder would catch the slow Joyce maybe, the now older slower Wlder is also more plodding and definitely does not have the chin Joyce has.
Joyce smokes Usyk in 12.
Joyce looked horribly disoriented! Needs to cash out asap!
Joyce should fight the winner of Ortiz/Ruiz next or Wilder. He beats any of them.
Forget the winner of AJ/ Usyk or Fury, too early for this, maybe in 2023.
Paul, time is not on Joyce’s side. I understand taking a shake the rust off fight, but he needs to stay active and take the title shot if it comes.
Like Scott said, the timing is really bad for him, given his age. He’s probably not in the position to be turning down title shots if they come his way because even if he waits a year, he runs the risk of being further away from his physical best and, from the way he fights, he needs it.
I wonder who Hammer will fight next?
I guess to shake off the ring rust, this will do. I’m still surprised with Joyce. Whenever he punches in combination, I cringe because he leaves himself wide open, but so far so good. Once his stock rises a bit more, good paydays will line up for him.
Everyone is mad at Joyce. The guy took a year off. Let him get a warm-up sheesh. Eventually he will be someone’s mandatory and then we’ll see what he can do.