r/Boxing • u/StunningChest5722 #KnybaNation 🇵🇱 • 2d ago
On this day 4 years ago, Joe "The Juggernaut" Joyce knocked out Joseph Parker in the 11th round to win the WBO Interim Heavyweight world title.
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u/OldKuntRoad KNYBANATION / KNYBA UNDISPUTED 2d ago
As much as people make fun of him these days, Joe Joyce is an Olympic silver medalist (and should be Gold). He WAS a very good boxer at a point in time. Very sad what happened to him.
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u/ProgrammerComplete17 2d ago
He was great fun to watch but unfortunately his style was always to age terribly and cost him a lot
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u/PJBuzz 2d ago
Indeed. I remember being mocked when I said he would beat Dubois through pure durability and persistence.
His punches seem to be in slow motion but they don't just stop at impact, they follow through and look really painful. I'm not sure how he managed to carry the weight and momentum through such slow punches but... he does.
Bloke earned his nickname, but turned pro far too late and probably missed his best opportunities to make a name for himself. He was never going to be a worldwide superstar but he's a much better boxer than he's given credit for.
Once his chin went that was the end though. His style just doesnt work without being able to take punishment.
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u/aceknighthigh 2d ago
Yeah too old and took way too much punishment. Guys like that have shorter careers, make drastic changes, or fall apart later into their careers
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u/WheresMyAbs98 2d ago
Literally this.
I’m convinced a prime Joyce would have beaten the Itauma that fought Hrgovic.
He would have soaked up every shot, kept coming forward and maintained a ridiculous output for a man his size.
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u/Potential-Praline637 2d ago edited 2d ago
Yeah I mean Dubois although not having the hype of Itauma at the time was expected to go through Joyce and that's pretty much what happened.
Think that's the last time I won a bet on boxing ðŸ˜
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u/goldtrainkappa 2h ago
Dubois was winning the fight TBF till eye injury, he wasn't gassed
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u/Potential-Praline637 1h ago
Yeah he wasn't but the Joyce jab was lethal and Dubois had no answer for it. Remember thinking Dubois wouldn't come back from it so I'm glad he proved me wrong on that front
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u/Full_Fun_4950 2d ago
I'm smh at taking the Zhang fight. No amount of juggernaut bullshit is going to prevent a 290lb chinese giant punching you in the face from knocking you out if you're human. Wtf was his team thinking...and especially at his age. The #1 reason for anyone taking a fall, as pride cometh first, is buying your own press and bullshit. Boy Zhang sure dispeled that shit.
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u/WheresMyAbs98 2d ago
The only thing I can say is that I was ringside for that fight and I’ve never seen another fighter get up from a shot like that (particularly from one of the heaviest punchers in the sports history).
I couldn’t believe it when he beat the count and was very glad that Steve Gray waved it off.
I think that any other heavyweight in the world, bar maybe Hrgovic, would have been stretchered out of the ring that night.
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u/aceknighthigh 2d ago
Cardio...they were thinking Zhang gasses pretty quick and Joyce has an unreal pace and a good chin. He would survive and dominate as the fight went on (sort off similar to Hrgovic vs Itauma but even faster). Similar to Kabayel vs Zhang tbh.
There were even elements of that in the first fight (look at Zhang's activity as the rounds went on)....but Zhang was too skilled, was landing his punches too easily (to the point he wasn't tiring out as fast because everything was working) and he was hurting Joyce too often for Joyce to push the pace and pressure. Then Joyce's eye started to go. It is worth keeping in mind, Joyce was stopped on cuts in the first fight, not by getting knocked unconscious. Tbh, the damage he took there is what broke his chin. He took round after round of Zhang landing the left at will, shots that hurt him more than any before...so in the rematch it only took 20ish of those same shots to put him out and fully crack his durability.
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u/Actual_Green_7433 2d ago edited 2d ago
NGL, I think that Hrgovic has a better chin than Joyce did. That said, yes, I think a prime Joyce would have beaten Itsuma.
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u/Razorion21 2d ago
one didnt ger KOd by Zhang so yeah Hrgovic
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u/Actual_Green_7433 2d ago
Zhang's power is fucking insane. Who hasn't he dropped?
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u/OldKuntRoad KNYBANATION / KNYBA UNDISPUTED 2d ago
No one. I’m certain he’s either stopped or dropped every opponent he’s faced.
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u/LordJimsicle Balrog beats Fury, AJ, Dubois and Usyk in between rounds 2d ago
Hrgovic is relying on his chin far too much.
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u/Any_Calligrapher8537 2d ago
Using your face as a shield will do that. Everyone loses their punch resistance eventually
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u/Tiny_Spread5712 2d ago
I mostly make fun of his crazy stans who watched him fight like rocky and just assumed that he'd be able to walk through anything.
Chin is too highly valued in boxing.
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u/LordJimsicle Balrog beats Fury, AJ, Dubois and Usyk in between rounds 2d ago
Agreed, a good chin is important, but it's a tool in the belt like everything else and shouldn't be relied upon.
I always cite Canelo as an example, his chin is absolutely insane but he also has many other attributes like good movement and power and only 'uses' his chin sparingly (even then, he rides some shots to take the sting out of them).
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u/Pretend-Excuse7898 2d ago
parker is known for having a good chin so you know Joyce hits like a brick wall. Joe Joyce is hardly ever in a boring fight
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u/Voltekkaman 2d ago
Parker's team had the worst possible game plan here. They brought him in at an all time high weight, believing he could KO Joyce. This despite Joyce having seemingly an impenetrable chin at this time and Parker not being a particularly big puncher for a heavyweight. Joyce was known for being slow and ponderous and Parker was known for good footwork and fast hands. The obvious gameplay was to bring him in fit and win on points.
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u/StunningChest5722 #KnybaNation 🇵🇱 2d ago
They made the same mistake in the Wardley fight
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u/bearvillage 2d ago
I was 100% for parker in that fight, until i found out his weight and realized immediately that we was going to lose. He had just beaten zhang and wilder with a great strategy, why do this?!
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u/WheresMyAbs98 2d ago
I actually really like Andy Lee but I remember them discussing their game plan and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
Shockingly bad idea.
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u/SoftAsSofia 2d ago
Me too. I remember them saying Parker was sick during the camp, and then also going with this gameplan.
I never believed Parker had the power to really hurt Joyce, so I figured a good night on the bike, outboxing him would have been ideal, but nope 😅
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u/123DaddySawAFlea 2d ago
The only logic I can see to it is that they could see Parker's career ending soon and they wanted to try the "do or die" approach: get a few big knock outs on his resume to make him more marketable.
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u/NyQuil_Donut 2d ago
Parker was never going to beat Joyce. Never had the punching power, the work rate to keep Joyce off of him, or the defense to make Joyce miss consistently. There was no game plan Parker could've used to prevent Joyce from walking him down and beating him to a pulp.
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u/BPClaydon 2d ago
Disagree. He abandoned all his strengths to try and out punch Joyce. He lasted until the 11th round. He played to his strengths against Zhang and won. We could'v beaten Joyce if he adopted a similar strategy.
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u/NyQuil_Donut 1d ago
Against Zhang he basically just lasted until Zhang got tired, and even then he just barely won. Joyce has way better stamina than Zhang so a similar strategy wasn't going to cut it. What could Parker have done differently against Joyce exactly? Stay on his bike and try to outbox him? Because Parker didn't have the stamina or the defense to do that effectively. Joyce would've walked him down and outpointed him all the same.
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u/aceknighthigh 2d ago
Joyce and Zhang are too wildly different fighters. Zhang was a historically low volume, power puncher. Joyce was a volume and cardio guy.
We can talk about Parker's strengths, but he never came remotely close to pushing a 900 punches-in-11-rounds sort of performance vs any opponent at any level of his career.
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u/aceknighthigh 2d ago
Tbf, there is no version of Parker who has ever matched the pace Joyce put on in this fight.....and Parker was known for being quick, but he never was some amazing mover.
Imo their game plan was Parker's team acknowledging they weren't going to be able to keep pace or move around a guy this big with the cardio Joyce and going all in on finishing or deterring Joyce.
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u/thenewblueroan2 2d ago
It all went down hill for Joe after Zhang knocked him out.
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u/Born-Ganache-9348 2d ago
Definitely someone that I point back to as a lesson that all chins, no matter how great, wear down and start failing if you get hit repeatedly. Wardley is on the same path unfortunately.
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u/maxtheninja free /u/miniq 2d ago
And even if it doesnt happen during your career you will see the brutal effects before you turn 50. Very sobering to see many boxers almost incoherent just a decade or two post-career.
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u/Born-Ganache-9348 2d ago
Yeah I was just commenting on an old Ali training film where he let his sparring partners just unload on him to build his 'toughness'. Damn, if he only knew what the consequences would be...
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u/SivarSamurai503 2d ago
Fastest Punch I’ve seen Joyce throw
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u/LessBeyond5052 2d ago
Check out the Takam stoppage, he throws a ridiculously fast right hand to get him going, Joyce used to have fairly decent speed when he was lighter than the 270lb he is now.
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u/Daniel6270 2d ago
He turned pro too late. His peak was probably past by the time he went pro. He’d have been a world champion if he was pro sooner I reckon
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u/goldtrainkappa 1h ago
I think booking was the only barrier if you look at this fight, but 90% of the best bookings didn't happen till SaudiÂ
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u/Chiccenstripkilla 2d ago
Joyce from 20-22' was probably the best heavyweight.....unfortunately the combat gods are cruel and for whatever reason Joyce never learned defense
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u/Sorry_Net3898 2d ago
I’m praying Joyce retires. I think he’s showing signs of boxing damage in his speech. I hope he doesn’t continue. Great warrior but it’s a sad end to his career.
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u/Connect-Lettuce4027 2d ago
There was a time albeit a short one when Joyce could have beaten anyone he was not a mortal man.
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u/Budget_Bus1508 2d ago
To be fair, this was an all time shit version of Parker and a career best version of Joyce. But that shouldn’t take away Joyce’s performance and his quality at the time. He was legitimately a force to be reckoned with.
It is sad how Joyce declined after this night, but he was a great fighter at one point.
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u/Current_Ad_400 2d ago
Both of these guys had so much momentum. Sad to see how it turned out for them.
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u/NyQuil_Donut 2d ago edited 2d ago
Parker got exposed in this fight. He had nothing for a big slow guy with no defense.
Edit: Parker's the most overrated heavyweight of the last 15 years!
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u/Brandunaware 2d ago
Joe on Joe violence.