Olympic silver medal winner Joe Joyce is backing Tyson Fury to overcome Dillian Whyte later this month.
Fury, the WBC heavyweight champion, will make a mandatory defense against Whyte on April 23 before a crowd of over 90,000 at Wembley in London.
While Joyce believes Fury will come out on top, he also cautions that any boxer is capable of securing an upset in the heavyweight division.
“Tyson is taller longer reach so he’ll be working at range. Dillian needs to close the distance, work the body. I think Dillian Whyte – he could cause an upset, it’s heavyweight boxing. My personal opinion is Fury’s skillset will be on top for this fight,” Joe Joyce said to The Daily Mail.
“I’ll be surprised if Whyte knocks Fury out and he stays down, so I think it’s going to be a Fury victory. Once [Fury] gets going, it’s very hard to get him off you. He can switch, he comes at different angles. With the [Deontay] Wilder fight he’s shown he’s got power as well. It’s a very difficult fight.”
Joe Joyce is very familiar with the skills of Fury – as he was used as a sparring partner by the ‘Gypsy King’ to prepare for the first bout with Deontay Wilder in 2018.
“I spent some time with Tyson Fury when he was a bit overweight – I was on a training camp with Sam Jones at the time. We stayed with him and Tommy, Hughie and Peter Fury. I got to know the family,” Joe Joyce said.
“I sparred [Fury] and then I spent more time with him while I was preparing to face Bermane Stiverne and got to know him a lot more. He’s at the top of the game and everyone wants to see who’s the best. I’d definitely fight him. When I was with Team GB I spent a lot of years with Joshua, Frazier Clarke and [Daniel] Dubois. I consider everyone a friend but it’s a business and a sport at the end of the day. I’ll fight whoever is put in front of me. You have respect for each other, you get in the ring, try to knock each other out and after you shake hands.”
