ALTHOUGH briefly linked to a fight on the July 28 Sky Box Office show, heavyweight prospect Joe Joyce has today denied these rumours and revealed his main priority right now is securing a new trainer, not an opponent.
It had been suggested the reigning Commonwealth champion might fight Nick Webb, a fellow undefeated Brit he knows well from the amateur circuit, but Joyce, just back from holiday, claims he won’t be ready to compete until September.
Taking to social media, he wrote: “To be clear, I was never scheduled to fight this month. I was alerted by my promoter when I got back from holiday a few days ago that there could be a potential fight against Nick Webb on July 28. As it stands, I don’t have a trainer, as he has now moved to Doha and moved into semi-retirement.
“I will announce my new trainer in due course. I will fight any heavyweight in the world with notice, let alone Nick Webb, who my team have previously offered the fight to twice. I will happily fight Nick in September, so if Eddie (Hearn) wants to put it on the AJ (Anthony Joshua) undercard I will be more than ready.”
He finished by thanking Ismael Salas for all the work he did with him before setting sail for Doha. And it’s this issue, more than a fight with Webb in July or September, that really generates some intrigue.
After all, Salas, a kind of rent-a-coach for the Hayemaker stable down in Vauxhall for a brief period, never seemed a long-term fix for Joyce, but did clearly do some decent work with the Olympic silver medallist. He had him boxing a bit, he loosened his shoulders, and got him to relax. Joyce and Haye, the reason for Salas being there in the first place, have both spoken highly of the Cuban, which suggests his absence will surely be felt.
Still, Joyce, 5-0 (5), now has the task of sourcing another coach – and he’s likely to be inundated with interested suitors. A hot ticket, what with him being a heavyweight, Joyce, even at 32 years of age, is enough of a blank canvas to get coaches excited about the prospect of working with him.
Watch this space, I guess.
In other news, whippersnappers Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia are going at it on social media, and aside from the bizarre ramblings of Nathan Cleverly, it’s some of the most entertaining boxing-related stuff you’ll discover on Twitter this week.
Davis and Garcia, two of the rising stars in the sport, have accused each other of name-dropping “for clout” and Davis, seemingly the unhappier of the pair, has even attempted to track down Garcia at his gym.
https://twitter.com/Gervontaa/status/1018674324721545216
https://twitter.com/Ryankingry/status/1018873958651711491
https://twitter.com/Gervontaa/status/1018884993823764481
https://twitter.com/Ryankingry/status/1018874066357219328
https://twitter.com/Gervontaa/status/1018900124095967234
https://twitter.com/Ryankingry/status/1018999302188756992
In all seriousness, it could make for a hell of a rivalry down the line – and perhaps both have been made aware of this. Davis, the WBA super-featherweight champion, is 23 years of age, while Garcia, still waiting for his step up in class, is just 19. They have plenty of potential and room to grow and it would seem they also have a ready-made grudge match to exploit when the time is right. Keep going, boys.
