Video [iFL TV]
Joe Joyce (4-0-0) vs Lenroy Thomas (22-5-1) [Joyce KO 2nd]
Joe "Juggernaut" Joyce (4-0-0) ticked all the right boxes again in another easy win for him at the O2 Arena in London. His opponent, Jamaican heavy-weight Lenroy Thomas (22-5-1) was defending the Commonwealth belt, so Joyce has also now added that to his list of accolades.
This was only Joe Joyce's 4th professional fight, breaking a record for the Commonwealth title that has held since 1912. But Joyce was already the UK's most highly decorated amateur boxer, and at 33 years of age has been put on a fast track with his career in the paid ranks.
Joyce seemed determined to put Lenroy Thomas away early and despite his pedigree a lot of his work looked crude as Joyce tried to simply mow Thomas down. Lenroy Thomas is much smaller than Joe Joyce and once he had been on the wrong end of some clubbing shots dished out by Joyce, he was soon in survival mode.
Thomas went down at least 3 times under the onslaught before his legs gave in completely and he was counted out on one knee in the 2nd round.
The problem Joe Joyce might have now is unless he moves up to world level not a lot of people are going to want to face him. Joyce says he wants to fight for the British Heavyweight title as soon as possible. But Sam Sexton and Hughie Fury will be fighting for that belt in June, and there's no clear short cut to a world title for him right now.
Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder will be tied up with unification and/or various mandatories for the foreseeable future. They also have no reason to give Joyce a shot because he is only just starting to make a name for himself in the UK among casual fans.
A lot of boxers and their managers will be looking at fighting Joe Joyce as a lose-lose proposition at domestic level. Joyce really needs to work on his popularity so he can force the better fighters to face him. But he should also start making a dent in the world rankings after this recent win.
If Joyce can't get a British title shot, he should fight a few world ranked boxers (at least in the top 50) and earn more opportunities for himself that way. The other route would be for him to challenge for the European belt perhaps against Germany's Agit Kabayel, who beat Dereck Chisora in Monaco for that title last year.