Fight Talk: Joe Joyce, Oleksandr Usyk, Mike Tyson, Oscar de la Hoya
Last updated on .From the section Boxing
In this week's Fight Talk we look back at Joe Joyce's stoppage of Daniel Dubois on Saturday night, with the British heavyweight now setting his sights on becoming world champion. But does he have what it takes to beat pound-for-pound star Oleksandr Usyk?
Also this week, Mike Tyson says he wants to fight regularly in exhibition bouts having drawn with Roy Jones Jr at the weekend and former six-weight world champion Oscar de la Hoya has a particular opponent in mind as he plans a comeback.
Could Joe Joyce beat Oleksandr Usyk?
British heavyweight Joe Joyce upset the odds on Saturday night with a 10th-round-stoppage win over Daniel Dubois in London.
In hindsight, you can question why Joyce was such an outsider with the bookies. An Olympic silver medallist, he had the amateur pedigree and had faced better opposition than Dubois in the pro ranks.
After the win, the Londoner only had one man in his sights.
Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk, who beat Briton Derek Chisora last month, is mandatory for Anthony Joshua's WBO belt.
"Usyk, Usyk, I'm ready for you Usyk," Joyce said.
If Joshua decides to vacate the title in order to take on Tyson Fury in a mega-fight next year, it's possible that Usyk and Joyce could contest the vacant belt.
The two have history - in March 2013 Usyk beat Joyce on points in their amateur bout at the World Series of Boxing.
But Joyce says he has improved a lot since that fight over seven years ago.
"I cringe looking back because of how terrible my technique is," he told the 5 Live Boxing Podcast. "There's plenty more I can do if we fight again, and he has to go 12 rounds with me as well."
He may be full of confidence but Joyce would be a heavy underdog against Usyk - although some fans think he can gain revenge…
While others are still unimpressed by Joyce and can't see anything but a win for Usyk…
Pundit Steve Bunce doesn't think Usyk will be able to stop Joyce.
"If Daniel Dubois couldn't budge him then Usyk won't budge him. But he will come in with a different plan," Bunce told the 5 live Boxing Podcast.
"Usyk is deceptive, clever, smart. I think it's a really hard fight. If Joyce came through that - back-to-back wins against Dubois and Usyk - the dancer, the artist, the man from Putney should be a national hero."
As for Dubois, many fighters, including British heavyweight Dillian Whyte and Northern Ireland's Carl Frampton, said the 23-year-old 'quit' when he took a knee and did not get back up.
But there was also some sympathy for Dubois, who suffered a broken eye socket in the bout. Tyson Fury's former trainer Ben Davison offered these kind words…
And Olympian Anthony Ogogo, whose own career was cut short by an eye injury, also offered his support…
Mike Tyson wants to fight six times a year
It had been months in the making, some of us didn't actually believe it would happen, but on Saturday night the 'Baddest Man on the Planet' returned to the ring.
Mike Tyson, 54, drew an exhibition bout against 51-year-old Roy Jones Jr at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
But for those of you thinking this was just an itch that 'Iron Mike' needed to scratch, you might be wrong.
The former world heavyweight champion has said he plans to fight similar exhibitions every two months.
"My body's still splendid, I want to beat it up some more," Tyson said.
So who could he face? While some fans wish Tyson would never lace up the gloves again, others are keen on a rematch with former foes…
Before his outing on Saturday, Tyson also suggested he would be happy to fight the best of the current heavyweight division, namely Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder, for charity.
"There are so many people we can do so much for, it would be a test of their charitable heart to fight an exhibition fight with me," Tyson told BT Sport.
'GGG would be easy' - De la Hoya eyes comeback
This year has been one we will never forget for so many reasons, but in boxing terms, 2020 has been the year in which a host of ex-fighters have announced comebacks.
Former six-division world champion, now promoter, Oscar de la Hoya is one on that list.
The 47-year-old has been in training for several months for his planned return - which he says will be sometime early next year.
But unlike Tyson or Jones Jr, De la Hoya isn't interested in an exhibition bout. Instead, he wants to go straight in with the elite.
This week he called out Kazakhstan's Gennady Golovkin.
And De la Hoya - who has been inactive since losing to Filipino Manny Pacquiao in 2008 - believes 'Triple G' would be easy work.
"You know how easy GGG would be for me? Oh my gosh. It would be a high-profile fight, that's for sure," he told Boxing Scene.
"I always took a good shot and I always took apart fighters like him. In my mind it would be that easy."
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