Fury told to avoid ‘closest thing to hell’ and fight Usyk instead

Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have been warned against underestimating Joe Joyce. Johnny Fisher – one of The Juggernaut’s main sparring partners – has described facing Joyce in the ring as ‘the closest thing to hell on earth’ and expects the Brit to take his place at the top of the table in 2023.

Joyce is the current WBO interim champion and is in line to face the winner of next year’s proposed undisputed clash between Fury and Usyk. According to the sanctioning body rotation system, Joyce is third in the queue behind WBA mandatory Daniel Dubois and the IBF’s No1 contender Filip Hrgovic.

However, if the fight cannot be made for whatever reason, then Joyce will do battle with Fury for the WBC title – as confirmed by the man himself. After beating Joseph Parker in September, the Londoner has established himself as an upper-echelon talent and is coming for world titles next year.

“He’s in the top three of four in the world, he has to be in everyone’s top five,” Fisher told iFL TV. “Anyone who follows heavyweight boxing he’s in that top mix now and he’s pushing for a world title shot and he deserves because I’ve seen how he’s developed.

“Seeing Joe’s development from where he was to now working with Ismael Salas and he needs that fight next year. Joe Joyce, forget Usyk, Fury, Joshua, Whyte, he’s a threat to any heavyweight on the planet because of that relentless nature he has.

“He’s got an unbelievable chin; an unbelievable engine and he can punch. For 12 rounds, Fury knows it, Usyk knows it, it’s going to be one hell of a fight and they’re going to have to be on top of their game. Sparring him for six rounds, eight rounds that’s hard enough. Getting into the ring with him with 10oz gloves on, 19 stone, that’s the closest thing to hell on earth.”

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Above all else, Joyce is noted for his sturdy chin and is one of a select few that can honestly say they have never touched the canvas as an amateur, professional, or even in sparring.

“Yeah, he’s the hardest man to get hurt, you can hit him with massive overhand rights, and you might stumble him back a little bit, but you just unlock level two Joe Joyce and then you hit him again and you get level three Joe Joyce, it just gets him more and more riled up the more you catch him,” Fisher added.

Fisher previously revealed the strange reason why Joyce has got such a strong chin. “Joe Joyce, ‘The Juggernaut’, is a very very special, unique individual,” he told From the Corner YouTube show.

“And I’ve seen him sparring in Vegas, getting left hook after left hook after left hook. Someone landed four left hooks on Joe Joyce’s chin and he didn’t even move. He’s actually done a test, like a bone density test, and his bone density is six times a normal human being.”