Joe Joyce faces the first opponent in his career big enough to be remembered not only as a test, but also at the risk of losing. Joseph Parker is different for opponents, but always dangerous. And now even more.

Who is still the favourite, and why is this fight important to the heavyweight championship race?

Joyce has been on the side of champions for a long time. It’s time to take the title, but he just reached an important status

Joseph Joyce was the last person to debut anywhere. He performed as the oldest in amateur boxing. Also in the semi-professional league. At the 2016 Olympics, the Briton was already 31 years old – an age when many boxers have long had more than a dozen professional appearances and several titles under their belts.

So Joseph has to catch up with the professionals. Joyce is now 36 years old but still strangely walking the streets. Not by age, of course, but definitely by status. At the same time, the Briton does not box with full names – he has a good record of strong fighters. See for yourself: Bermain Stiverne (6th round TKO), Alexander Ustinov (3rd round TKO), Bryant Jennings (unanimous decision), Michael Wallisch (3rd round TKO), Daniel Dubois (10th round KO), Carlos Takam (6th round of KO) .round TKO) , Christian Hammer (4th round TKO).

Good, strong record, interesting fights. Joyce is by no means a master of defense or an attack-building genius. He understands his main feature – terrible physical strength – and uses it to the fullest. Joe is consistently close to championship titles, but he still doesn’t become a contender. The main reason is that there are these people that he defeats, and there is the next league, victory over their representatives allows the fighter to reach the championship. The next opponent is only from the next league.

The 30-year-old Parker has managed to do more with the pros than Joyce to date. Joseph was a champion, boxed with several balls, was cut by Chisora ​​twice and is now trying to get back to the contenders.

2018 is definitely not the best year for Parker. Lost first to Anthony Joshua, then to Dillian Whyte. Two bad trips to England in a row. And Dillian and Parker didn’t seem to want to box. I’m not saying White did much, but Joseph did even less – so he lost.

Since then, Parker has not lost, although there have been questions about the first meeting with Chisora. Only then was Derek a more active and more accurate colleague. At the same time, in fact, Joseph has not earned a boxer by name during this time. In addition to Chisora, there was also Junior Fa – but this is a story of local confrontation between New Zealanders. There was Alex Leapai, but the situation is not serious at all. Or Shondell Terrell Winters – seriously, who wanted to see him fight? Thus, the battles against Chisora ​​became the most important, and the latter is one of the best in his career.

After that, Joseph Parker did not enter the ring. I was looking for competitors among other, more distinguished colleagues. But I got Joyce. And a dangerous duel for both.

Who is your favourite?

Strange or not, the ex-champion is out of combat. On average, you can bet 1.44 on Joyce and 2.62 on Parker. The British victory in points is estimated at 2.37, by knockout – 3.40. New Zealander’s victory by judge – 4.00, by knockout – 6.00.

On the one hand, Joseph Parker is definitely not Wallish or Takam. And it’s not even Dubois that Joyce actually had a harder fight than the final result suggests. Parker is a dangerous boxer in his top form. With good footwork, attacks from different angles and different floors, and a powerful kick. He’s not scary, he’s heavy and well-intentioned.

Parker has great fighting experience, skill and boxing IQ. At the same time, he is physically strong enough to compete with such an opponent at close range and even fight through the entire fight. Joyce is a giant, but certainly not more terrifying in the clutches of the same Chisora.

Overall, Joyce is still an all-around tough competitor. He has a super-strong head and physical ability to push his opponent round after round at a steady pace. Joe hits not deadly, but hard and constantly, which leads to a loss of physical condition in each of the opponents.

And most importantly, it has no downtime. The Briton is boxing regularly and unlike his colleague, he has already entered the ring this year. So the odds are close to equal, although not in Joyce’s favour. Strength and motivation with last chances against reason and technique. What you need is resistance.

The winner of this fight is guaranteed to be a contender for the title of Oleksandr Usyk, but you should not count on a fight just yet. It seems that the Ukrainian wants to face Wilder, if not against Fury. Because big money and big attention. And versus Joyce or Parker, it’s just a sports hobby that Alexander no longer has time and desire for.

Joe Joyce vs Joseph Parker will be played on Saturday 24 September in Manchester. The estimated start time of the battle is 23:00 Kyiv time.