By Barry Holbrook: Joe Joyce (15-0, 14 KOs) immediately called out unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk after his 11th-round knockout victory over Joseph Parker (30-3, 21 KOs) on Saturday night at the AO Arena in Manchester, England. .
Joyce’s win earned him the interim WBO title, moving him into pole position to challenge Usyk for his WBO title. It’s possible that by the time Joyce gets a title shot next year, Tyson Fury will be the one facing off for the WBO belt.
Joyce did an excellent job of becoming the first to knock out Parker, but it wasn’t easy. She had to fight hard and take a lot of heavy punches to eventually wear Parker down and get the stoppage in round 11.
In the 11th, Joyce landed a perfect left hook to Parker’s head, sending him flat on his back. The fight was stopped when Parker was unable to get up in time to beat the count.
If Parker had recovered in time, Parker would have finished him off right away because he was such a mess when he got to his feet after the fight was stopped.
“It hurts, but I am strong. I’m the Juggernaut,” Joyce said at the post-fight press conference about what it’s like to get hit by Parker.
“This is my proper pay-per-view fight with a great crowd and a great arena. Thank you very much to everyone who came down.
“Usyk if he wants to go toe-to-toe again,” Joyce said when asked who he wanted to fight next. “Tyson Fury mentioned that he wanted to have a fight.”
Right now, Usyk probably won’t be the one to end up facing Joyce. Fury will be a heavy favorite to beat Usyk in February or March, and then it will be his responsibility to fend off Joyce if he doesn’t back down.
With Fury, he’s so keen to stay as Usyk, and it’s possible he’ll relinquish his titles and retire rather than deal with the ‘Juggernaut’.
All the clever things Fury used to take down Deontay Wilder by backing him up and throwing rabbit punches won’t work against Joyce. I’m afraid Joyce would end up wearing down Fury the same way he did Parker and knocking him out.
In the end, Fury will smell the coffee and realize he doesn’t want any of Joyce’s smoke and will hang up his gloves instead of backing out like Parker.
“Bryan Jennings was a tough fight for 12 rounds,” Joyce said. “I was hoping this fight wouldn’t go 12 rounds. That’s why I went to finish it because it was hard. I had to dig deep there.
“I’m glad he hit him with a left hook in the 11th. He was going to go in the seventh, but he hung on and still pulled back.”
It looked like Parker was ready to go in the seventh round after Joyce unloaded on him with a storm of punches. I don’t know how Parker got out of the round, but he was ineffective from then on. Joyce got the best of Parker, and then she was exhausted.
“No, but he knows it’s going to be a tough fight, but I guess he wants it,” Joyce said when asked if Tyson Fury said anything to her after the fight. Also her relationship with Joe. I think he wants the fight,” Joyce said.
“I would really like to fight Usyk. I just think they have a history from the past in the fans,” promoter Frank Warren said of who Joyce was to fight next. “Joe is a big man now, he has matured more and I think he would give Usyk a lot of trouble.
“Usyk is a very smart fighter, but I think Joe’s stamina, his jab, I think would give him a lot of trouble. But it won’t happen. He’s not going to fight until next February or March, and that will be Tyson.
“But after that, the idea of this interim title, the mandatory WBO mandate will have to be heeded against him. No one can get in the way of that. So he’s in a great position,” Warren said.
“It’s a good statement, and my goal is to make a statement,” Joyce said of his ability to knock out Parker, who hadn’t been stopped in his previous losses to Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte.
“I did a better job. It shows my class and my level. I belong to this higher level. I had to dig deep there. I was thinking. I didn’t want to bust a joint because it’s 12 rounds. I also wanted to pick up the pace.
“I was hitting him with everything, and I felt like he wasn’t going to go, and I thought he was going to go 12 rounds. I was happy when I connected with that left hook and knocked him down.
“That’s what I was doing in sparring practice,” Joyce said of pushing Parker around the ring. “He was holding and clinching a lot, which messed him up.
“They’re both top-notch,” Joyce said when asked what the toughest fight for him is between Fury and Usyk. “Both have their strengths and weaknesses. They are different fighters, so they are both very challenging. They are top notch.
“Tyson Fury is taller, he can switch, long range, very skilled. Usyk is the smallest boy, the left-handed one. You know how technically good he is. I think Fury can hit a bit more than Usyk.
“Usyk is faster and has agile punches. But then again, Fury is also fast and creates combinations. They are both really tough.
“Dubois,” Joyce said when asked who hits harder between Parker and Daniel Dubois. “But then Parker is much more complicated and harder to hit.
“Dubois, if you stand up and trade with him and he drops one, he can really hit. That’s great. Now, I get the credit I deserve for this fight. He puts me at the elite level.
“I’m happy. I enjoyed the fight. I got the win. I got the highlight knockout.
“Let’s make the fight happen,” Joyce said of her message to Usyk.
