Joe Joyce remains confident he will get his shot at one of the big names in the heavyweight division, warning his rivals that they “can’t run away forever”.
The 37-year-old returns to the ring on Saturday night at the Copper Box as he faces Zhilei Zhang, looking to defend his WBO interim title against the Chinese fighter who has just one professional loss on his record.
That came against Filip Hrgovic last August on the undercard of Anthony Joshua‘s rematch with Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia, and Zhang was unfortunate not to get the decision on the scorecards that night.
Joyce will be looking to move to 16-0 this weekend before turning his attention, he hopes, to the division’s elite, with a potential summer bought against Tyson Fury, also promoted by Frank Warren, a possibility. The Juggernaut is also the mandatory for Usyk’s WBO world title, after victory over Joseph Parker last year.
Assuming he keeps winning, Joyce believes it will be impossible for the likes of Usyk, Fury and Anthony Joshua to avoid facing him, though he has little interest in sitting around and waiting for his shot.
He told BT Sport: “They can’t run away forever, can they?
“I’m hopeful I’ll get there and get my shot in the end. But I’m WBO interim, I don’t know how close I can get. And soon to be elevated.
“But this is a big, risky fight. Took on Parker, taking on Zhang, who else do I have to take on before I get all the titles, and the bells and whistles?
“I just have to keep plodding away and Juggernauting on.”
