Heavyweight contender Joe Joyce is pumped for his upcoming clash with another dangerous puncher, Zhang Zhilei, which takes place on April 15.
“I haven’t fought a southpaw since Lenroy Thomas so it’s good to get in there and practice,” Joyce said to Sky Sports.
“Because as we know Usyk’s a southpaw and Fury can switch southpaw as well. Great preparation for the next round of competition.”
Joyce expects a very dangerous fight in the early going but he expects to break Zhang down as the fight plays out.
“I’d say the first five rounds he’d be pretty dangerous. He’s got the power and experience,” Joyce said.
“It’s going to be awkward because he’s a southpaw, had good amateur experience, Olympic silver medalist as well.”
In his last fight, Zhang lost a very close decision to Filip Hrgovic. He dropped and badly hurt Hrgovic during the fight, with many observers feeling that he did enough to pull out the win.
Joyce also felt Zhang had done enough to win.
“It was a tough fight right to the end but I thought he did better overall and he was unlucky,” Joyce said.
“He was proper blowing in that last round. It’s a nice story because I beat Filip Hrgovic in the WSB, I’m fighting Zhang who unfortunately lost out to him. It’s an exciting fight, a risky opportunity but it’s a really good fight.”
Another fighter who was previously on Joyce’s hit list is Olympic gold medal winner Tony Yoka.
Yoka won a questionable decision over Joyce in the final round of the 2016 Olympic games.
Last weekend, Joyce suffered the second defeat of his pro career, when he was outworked by division veteran Carlos Takam.
“I’ve fought Takam and also sparred him last camp. He’s a good guy and it was good to see him get the victory. He boxed really well,” Joyce said.
“Yoka, I don’t know. I don’t see much difference from the amateurs especially in that performance. He’s holding his guard [tight]. The punches he did land were good punches but not that many.
“Where he was Olympic champion, he’s got too over-confident. His ego, and being able to pick his opponents. He was saying in an interview, I don’t think Joyce will do anything in the pros and it seems to have backfired.”