Joe Joyce will put his WBO world ranking and guaranteed future heavyweight title shot in jeopardy when he faces battle-hardened Frenchman, Carlos Takam, at The SSE Arena, London, on July 24th
Unbeaten Joyce returns to the ring for the first time since his tenth-round stoppage win against Daniel Dubois last November when he captured the vacant European title and relieved Dubois of his British and Commonwealth titles.
“It was a great win for Joe against Daniel Dubois,” said promoter Frank Warren. “He has been inactive since then because we have been waiting for WBO title situation between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk to be finalised.
“Had that fight not happened Joe would have been fighting Usyk for the vacant title, so we had to wait and see what the outcome would be. That situation has been sorted. Joe will become the mandatory challenger for the winner and get his world title fight – should he beat Carlos Takam.”
Takam is no stranger to British fight fans after performing admirably in stoppage losses to Anthony Joshua and Derek Chisora. He’ll be hoping for a change in fortune against Joyce but the 2016 Olympic silver medallist is in a confident mood ahead of the fight.
“I only want competitive fights but everyone wants to avoid me’” said Joyce. “Carlos Takam didn’t even want to spar me in Las Vegas, so I’m surprised he’s taken the fight. He has operated at a high level for a long time but on July 24th the Juggernaut will be activated and I will run him over.