Joe Joyce could be in action against a French opponent this July as he moves on from his win over Daniel Dubois.
The 35-year-old sent Dubois to surgery to repair a fractured orbital bone after they met last November. Dubois has now fought against Bogdan Dinu to earn the WBA silver title, while Joyce remains on the sidelines.
That has happened because his proposed next challenger, Oleksandr Usyk, now appears set to face Anthony Joshua as his WBO mandatory, following Tyson Fury’s WBC clash with Deontay Wilder.
Joyce is promoted by Queensberry’s Frank Warren, and suggested Carlos Takam or Tony Yoka as potential opponents for July 24 or July 31.
Warren said to BT Sport Boxing: “Unfortunately with Joe, he had a really good win when he beat Daniel, and we’ve not been able to capitalise on it. The only way to capitalise on it, being number 2 in the WBO, he will become the mandatory challenger to the winner of Usyk and AJ if it takes place, providing they can agree terms.
“If AJ vacates the title, then Usyk will have to fight Joe. But we can’t sit around and keep waiting, which we’ve been doing and doing. So Joe will fight either on the 24th or 31st of July and those two names [Takam and Yoka] are really on that list.”
“He needs a big name, he needs to be in with a big name, and he needs to move forward,” added Warren.
“He’s an exceptional fighter at heavyweight and obviously he’ll be looking tonight at Daniel (Dubois) and thinking to himself ‘I need to get out’. He wants to be out, he’s been very patient and we’ve had to work hard as I say to keep that position in the WBO. Now he’s gotta fight and he will be out next month.”