OLYMPIC super-heavyweight silver medallist Joe Joyce is close to finalising his next move.
โIโm almost there. I pretty much spoke to everyone,โ he tells Boxing News. โItโs quite a tough process of choosing which route to go down.
โItโs quite tough to make a decision because thereโs lots of options.โ
Joyce received a wave of public support after suffering a bitterly disputed decision loss to Frenchman Tony Yoka in the Olympic 91&kgs final at Rio 2016. After some time off in the period after that heart-breaking defeat, Joyce has been training hard in the gym and can fight imminently.
โNow Iโm ready to fight. Iโm fighting fit, my weightโs good. Iโm ready to start the ball rolling. Iโm just looking forward to getting back in there,โ he said. โFirst of all itโs quite a tough job getting the fitness back up. As the fitness goes up, your practice and your skills begin to come back and then you start building on from there. So Iโve built on from that now.โ
Joyce has medalled at every major international tournament, as well hugely impressing over the course of 15 five-round pro style bouts in the World Series of Boxing. It means he could advance quickly in the professional ranks. โIt depends how fast-tracked I want to be though,โ he mused. โI want to be busy my first year, maybe towards the end of the year next year looking towards the British title, that sort of thing.โ