Joe Joyce names Usyk as his No.1 target
'Juggernaut' Joe Joyce has revealed his hitlist after winning the WBO Interim heavyweight title last weekend against New Zealander Joseph Parker via 11th round KO.
He told Sky Sports Boxing who his first choice of opponent to face next would be, "Probably Usyk, because that would be for the WBO, for this basically," he said, pointing to his Interim belt sitting on his shoulder.
He continued to reel of other names in his sights, "And then Fury, AJ, Wilder… Dillian Whyte would be a good fight. Right now, I just want to be secure as world heavyweight champion and then either get more belts or be in bigger fights."
His No.1 target, WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO unified champion Oleksandr Usyk, has taken a short break after back to back fights with Anthony Joshua, but told the only other world titleholder, WBC king Tyson Fury, that he would be ready to meet in the ring in the first quarter of next year. Which could mean be the WBO mandatory may have to wait his turn.
"If I'm WBO Interim, so if Usyk doesn't want to fight me, then he has to vacate the belt and I get elevated to full champion, so from there then I can defend the belt against a voluntary or whatever, I'm not sure exactly it works, but there are plenty of great fights out there for me. I didn't have to fight Joseph Parker bit it's pushed me up that next level."
Despite losing to Usyk in the World Series Boxing nine years ago, the Putney pugilist believes it would be a different story in a rematch, "This time I would be more prepared, I'll have a proper training camp geared towards him. And it's over 12 rounds with smaller gloves, and I've come a long way since then, and I'm still learning so it would be a great fight over 12 rounds.
"I think I'd start to get to him if I keep the pressure up. He's a very skilful fighter, like all at this level is gonna be tough from here on in, but I want to be in exciting fights and to pick up some more titles."
