Footage of a sparring session between Anthony Joshua and Joe Joyce has emerged amid the British heavyweights’ feud on Twitter.
Joshua was set to rematch Oleksandr Usyk this spring, with “AJ” intent on regaining the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO titles that he lost to the unbeaten Ukrainian in London last September.
That fight is up in the air, however, with Usyk having returned to his home country to aid in its defence against the ongoing invasion by Russia.
Fighters and promoters have come forward in recent weeks in hopes of securing a bout with Joshua in the meantime, with Joyce among the heavyweights keen on facing the former world champion.
Joshua, 33, took exception to one Twitter user’s suggestion that he would avoid a fight with Joyce, 36, leading his fellow Olympic medalist to tweet: “You having a meltdown, where’s all your belts?
“All those sponsorships and endorsements helping? You’re a glass cannon, quit the act, you were given everything. #easymode.”
Joshua responded, “It took you 5 days to think of this…” having previously tweeted: “I boxed Joe and stopped him in one round. I’d do the same thing today. Ain’t nothing changed.”
Footage has since emerged on Twitter of a sparring session between Joshua and Joyce, with the former (sporting a yellow headguard) appearing to get the better of Joyce throughout.
While the 39-second clip has been edited together and likely shows just a small portion of the pair’s sparring session, Joshua can be seen landing numerous combinations while generally evading Joyce’s shots.
The clip was shared on Twitter by talkSPORT’s Online Boxing Editor, Michael Benson, and neither fighter has yet reacted to the emergence of the footage.
