Joe Joyce gives his Fury-Usyk prediction and talks Zhilei Zhang

Joe Joyce has backed Tyson Fury to prevail in this weekend’s undisputed heavyweight title showdown with Oleksandr Usyk. In an interview with Betfred Insights via Freebets.com, ‘Juggernaut’ spoke of his friendship with the Fury’s, pulled the curtain back on fighting Usyk and described the road back from his two defeats to Zhilei Zhang.

“Originally, I went with Fury and I’m going to stick with that.” the 38-year-old heavyweight told me. But this fight is a tough one to call, as Joyce acknowledges. “I did change it to Usyk. But styles make fights and obviously it's a 50/50 fight. Fury’s a Brit, I’m friendly with him and his family. I'd like to see him come through that and beat Usyk.”

More than most onlookers this Saturday, Joyce will have not only a professional interest in the outcome but an insight into what Fury is going through. Joyce took on Usyk in 2013 as part of the World Series of Boxing. The format was an amateur hybrid that took on certain professional boxing rules such as fighting without head guards and vests, three-minute rounds and pro-style judging. The WSB was designed to allow top amateurs to fight professionally while retaining amateur status.

Joyce told us about his experience boxing Usyk in WSB, a year after the Ukrainian had won Olympic gold at London 2012. 

“He was heavyweight in the amateurs, which is cruiserweight. In the WSB they made a catchweight from super heavyweight and heavyweight, so he's sat in the middle. Then I saw him proceed to beat a lot of the super heavyweights. Guys at my weight that were a good level, he was comfortably beating them.”

Fighting such a well-schooled fighter at a formative stage is an experience that Joyce has benefitted from. He speaks well of the experience, even if he would relish another go at the unified heavyweight boss.

“It's good that I had the opportunity to fight him. I really enjoyed that fight even though I lost. I thought I gave as good as I got. It was a big step up for me at that level. He was way more experienced than me but I think I held my own and put in a good performance. I’d like to do it again some time.”

That fight will have to wait for now. Joyce is rebuilding from two devastating stoppage defeats to Zhilei Zhang. That process started against Kash Ali in March, a stoppage win where Joe says he “got the job done… I’ve got the ring rust out”. But the effects of the Zhang brace still linger.

It was hard, especially straight after the fight. It’s a completely different feeling. Like when your football team loses you feel a bit s**t. It was kind of like that. You can see the disappointment (in people). It's not like everyone's going, “Where is he? We want to celebrate.”

That unfamiliarity of defeat is a theme speaking to Joyce. The former British, Commonwealth and European champion is clearly still grappling with the effect of his first professional losses. Still processing a life without his ‘0’.

“It's a bit hard like that, especially the first one. That one really hurt. That was probably the hardest one to take. The second one, I got knocked out in the third round and I felt fresh, I was in good spirits after the second fight. I tried everything. I tried my hardest to get the win and it didn't go my way. But I did everything I could to get the win.”

Joyce is targeting a July return against an opponent yet to be named. Talk of his next bout has the warrior in bright mood, eagerly talking about his development. “I can always improve and work on the things that's what I like about boxing.” Looking to the future, ‘Juggernaut’ is “excited to get back in the mix and (in) some of these exciting fights.”

Once the dust settles this weekend, either Fury or Usyk will probably enjoy only a short period of celebration before preparations begin for the inevitable rematch. But that might be just the time Joyce needs to prepare his return to top contendership. After enduring the tough times against Zhang, it is clear the Olympic silver medalist will do everything in his power to one day meet the winner. 

Joe Joyce was speaking courtesy of FreeBets.com

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