Joe Joyce has had his return to the ring officially confirmed.
‘The Juggernaut’ was last in action in July when he suffered a defeat to domestic rival Derek Chisora, getting dropped on his way to a unanimous decision loss to leave his career in disarray.
It wasn’t too long ago that Joyce was getting lined up for a shot at the world heavyweight title, after claiming stoppage wins over both Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker, who are the two men that meet for the IBF heavyweight title in February.
Those plans for Joyce came crashing down though when he was beaten for the first time in his professional career by Chinese heavyweight star Zhilei Zhang back in April 2023. with the fight called off in the sixth round after an inspection by the ringside doctor.
An immediate rematch took place five months later, but ended in even more devastating fashion for Joyce, as he was knocked down and stopped in the third round.
Even before the loss to Chisora, there had been calls from some fans for ‘The Juggernaut’ to hang up the gloves following the defeats to Zhang, but he will continue to fight on and has had his next date announced.
Joyce will compete at the Bournemouth International Centre on Saturday 1 March, as part of the undercard for the Frank Warren Queensberry Promotions event that is headlined by Ryan Garner facing Salvador Jiminez for the European super-featherweight title.
The undercard for #GarnerJimenez is set! Boxing returns to the south coast 😤
Tickets on sale now at https://t.co/gwSa2C5Cv8pic.twitter.com/eA0bn63jZy
— Queensberry Promotions (@Queensberry) January 7, 2025
Warren spoke to BoxNation about Joyce this week, and made it clear just how serious the task at hand is for his heavyweight hopeful.
“Can he turn it around? We’ll give him the opportunity to see if he can. If he does I’ll be the most delighted person about that, but let’s see if he can. Every fight he’s in now defines what his future is in boxing.”
A victory for 39-year-old Joyce could see him once again talked about with some of the big name heavyweights in the division, but a defeat would surely spell the end of his boxing career.
