Joyce predicts Oleksandr Usyk would dance around Daniel Dubois for victory

All eyes are on Joe Joyce this weekend when he meets Chinese veteran Zhilei Zhang, but Joyce was today asked to speculate what might happen if two of his former rivals meet later in the year.

When Tyson Fury’s proposed fight with Oleksandr Usyk fell through, heavyweight contender Daniel Dubois neared the front of the line to face the Ukrainian next.

Joyce lost to Usyk in the amateurs but holds an impressive win over Dubois in the pros.

Joyce thinks that if a match between Dubois and Usyk does materialise, the unified champ Usyk will prevail.

“I think Usyk is going to dance round him,” Joyce predicted. “Dubois won’t be able to hit him. He [Dubois] certainly couldn’t hit me when we fought, so he’s not going to be able to hit Usyk. Dubois hits hard but you can’t hit someone who is going to be moving and he’s going to dance rings around him, peppering him with shots. There’s a small chance Dubois hits him with a big shot, but I can’t see it.”

Joyce is 15-0 (14) and southpaw Zhang, 24-1-1 (19), meet at London’s Copper Box Arena on Saturday night.