TONY YOKA, France’s controversial Olympic gold medallist, makes his pro debut on Friday (June 2) in Paris. It’s a bout his rival Joe Joyce will be taking a keen interest in. The Briton lost a disputed verdict to him in the super-heavyweight final at Rio 2016, a result that still rankles.
“I’m moving on but it’s a good fight that I’d like to have. I’m sure the public and the people watching the Olympics would like to see that also,” Joe told Boxing News. “I thought he was alright, in training camps and stuff like that. But then saying the stuff he said, trying to trash talk me, before the Olympics. How can you take all those shots [in the final] and then Ali shuffle?
“It would be a big fight, the rematch.”
Joyce has been training hard himself. He was a key sparring partner for unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in the build up to the Klitschko fight. “It’s a good learning curve for me, that kind of level sparring, so I can gauge where I’d be in a big fight like that,” Joe said.
Joyce has been sparring Cuba’s Mike Perez. “The first day was like a war. We were both knocking lumps out of each other. The second one was more technical and tactical and the last spar I was really finding my range and putting in some good work,” Joe said. “He’s very skilful, obviously a bit rusty because I don’t think he’s had much good quality sparring but very skilful. So a good experience.”
When it comes to Joe’s own next move… “Stay tuned.”
