Joe Joyce has offered to fight Tyson Fury in the summer after his rival's clash with Oleksandr Usyk collapsed.
Fury looked set to step in the ring with unified champion Usyk with all of the undisputed marbles on the line at Wembley Stadium on April 29. However after months of negotiations and public pleas via social media, a deal for the pair to meet has collapsed after Usyk was left angered with the Briton's demands and walked away from the talks.
It is expected that Usyk will now be ordered to face Daniel Dubois by the WBA to retain his belts, while Fury will be free to negotiate with a number of opponents after completing his WBC mandatory defence last year. Fellow British star Joyce currently holds WBO mandatory status and would be next in line to face the Ukrainian after Dubois' shot.
And 'The Juggernaut' believes he would be in a position for a domestic clash once he has touched gloves with Zhilei Zhang on April 22. "Is it off or on? I am here and Fury said he wants to fight me so that would be a great summer fight," Joyce told Mirror Fighting in an exclusive chat. "It would be great after I fight Zhang if the Usyk fight doesn't happen.
"I have always said I want to fight Fury and now he has been saying he wants to fight me. I back myself to beat anyone and Fury I have sharred the ring with in sparring and I think it was 50/50 during the rounds. We did good work and I think on the main stage we would up our levels and it would be a great fight.
"Fury said he would like that fight and I am the number two heavyweight so I will beat up Zhang back in London town, and then I am hoping I will be back out here to train [US] to take on Fury."
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Joyce is set to face heavyweight rival Zhang next having recently beaten Joseph Parker to ensure that he remains a leading contender in the division. Fury came face-to-face with his stablemate under Frank Warren after beating Derek Chisora late last year, and the pair talked up a fight while stood next to Usyk.
And promoter Lou DiBella has insisted that Joyce would provide a tougher test for the WBC champion than Usyk. He told SecondsOut : "[Joyce] reminds me of the second coming of George Foreman. I consider that a great compliment. "Usyk is a better boxer than virtually everyone. In the heavyweight division, it’s a big gap with most but the gap with Fury is the smallest with Usyk.
"That says to me that Fury is the most difficult fight in the world for Usyk. Joe Joyce, it’s hard to hurt the guy. He’s a freaking monster. He’s got these short, heavy hands. You can see the punches coming and he’s still going to hurt you. He’s relentless."
