Tony Bellew has revealed that he is worried about the health of an active heavyweight.
Bellew knows what it takes to fight in the banner division. After becoming a cruiserweight champion, he moved up for two fights with David Haye. He won both by stoppage against an ageing and injured ‘Hayemaker’ and then walked away from the sport following one last cruiserweight bout against Oleksandr Usyk which saw him stopped in the eighth. He would retired shortly afterwards, bowing out at a good time.
Speaking to Sporting Talk, Bellew has now specifically expressed concern for fellow Brit Joe Joyce’s ability to stand up to big shots like he once did.
“He’s just an accident waiting to happen. I’m worried for Joe Joyce. I said it before it happened, I’m telling you now, its gonna fall, and when he gets done for the first time he’ll never be the same again. And I told anyone who would listen.
“It happened once and bang he’s gone and he can’t absorb it. When he fought Chisora, Chisora dropped him and he’s just an accident waiting to happen.”
Joyce was nicknamed ‘The Juggernaut’ due to being heavy-handed, steady and seemingly unstoppable early in his career. He forced a stoppage of Daniel Dubois in his first truly high profile win. The 40-year-old followed that up on the world stage with a KO of Joseph Parker, but saw all momentum crash down when he lost back-to-back fights to Zhilei Zhang, the second by brutal knockout.
In his last two, Joyce has been outpointed by Derek Chisora and Filip Hrgovic, leaving him with a record of 16 wins, 15 by KO, and four defeats. Many have implored him to retire, but it appears that he plans to continue with his career for now.
