Via Charles Brun: Joe Joyce and Joseph Parker will compete for the WBO interim heavyweight title on September 24 at the AO Arena in Manchester, England.
The World Boxing Organization has decided to reserve their temporary heavyweight belt for the match against Joyce-Parker, which means the winner could be elevated to a full WBO champion if the belt is dropped. empty after IBF/WBC/WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk faces WBC champion Tyson Fury.
It is likely that winner Fury-Usyk will drop the belt and retire from the sport. However, if Fury chooses to continue fighting Anthony Joshua, he could keep the WBO belt, but NOT if that means he faces the winner Joyce vs. Parker.
“I am playing against Joseph Parker, who is number 1 and number 2 in the WBO. And I’m #2 vs #3 in WBC. We’re next in line to fight for those belts,” Joe Joyce told Thaboxingvoice.
“The next best battle out there, and it’s really exciting. I’m looking to beat Joseph Parker and then go on to fight Usyk or maybe Fury for all the belts.
“I always thought Fury, being the bigger man, he could switch south, and he had a longer range,” Joyce said when asked who won the fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. .
“Usyk against Joshua, he really proved that he can draw with the big boys. It’s another war. He’s got Joshua working to join. Fury is a lot more unpredictable, and he has such a fast pace.
“His defense is the same. He will rely on him [Usyk] and make Usyk messier. Then he’ll start roughing him up, ruffle his fur and get to work.
“I’m happy to see that game and who’s at the top because that’s going to be who I want to take on. Hopefully he will [Fury] re-thread the gloves and go back there.
“Hopefully it will be for the belt, but it’s still a big fight without the belt. I can’t wait to go back there and show you where I was made. I also want to be a world champion.
“I’m going against Parker in September and hopefully there’s going to be a fight between the two while I wait for things to sort itself out. March is definitely the time when I want to shoot one of them,” Joyce said.
