Joe Joyce passed his test.
The big and strong Londoner wore down former heavyweight champion Joseph Parker before finally stopping him 1:03 into the 11th round of a scheduled 12-round bout Saturday at AO Arena in Manchester, England.
Thus, Joyce became the WBO’s “interim” titleholder and made him the mandatory challenger for Oleksandr Usyk’s belt.
Joyce (15-0, 14 KOs) imposed her physical advantages from the start of the fight, hounding Parker (30-3, 21 KOs), punishing him with her incessant jab and landing heavy blows that took their toll on her opponent.
Joe Joyce is a slow motion wrecking ball! Joe Parker is a warrior! Here’s the end of #JoyceParker pic.twitter.com/iUXKrpctV5
— Ben Damon (@ben_damon) September 24, 2022
And he wasn’t the least bit reckless, fighting at a distance that was advantageous to him.
Parker had some strong moments, landing some of the biggest punches of the fight as Joyce came in. However, Joyce took the blows and just kept attacking.
Joyce attacked Parker in earnest to open the final round, unloading a high volume of punches and landing many of them. However, the knockout was a single punch, a brutal blow that could have eliminated anyone in boxing today.
Parker had never been stopped in his career before Saturday night.
The judges had Joyce leading at the time of stoppage by five, three and two points, the last two of which were much closer than the Boxing Junkie undercard. We had Joyce leading by six points, 98-92, after 10 rounds.
Joyce’s win was a significant breakthrough for him, as Parker, the 2016-18 champion, is a respected heavyweight who seemed to be on the same page with new trainer Andy Lee.
At the same time, victory doesn’t mean Joyce will have an immediate shot at Usyk, who appears to have his sights set on champion Tyson Fury and former champion Deontay Wilder at the moment.
Joyce, 37, took a significant step toward her first shot at a major title. His time is coming.
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Photos: Joe Joyce knocked out Joseph Parker in the 11th round
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