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Joe Joyce is more motivated than ever to get his hands on WBO, IBF, IBO, WBA heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Last weekend in Manchester, Joyce picked up the biggest win of his pro career when he knocked out former world champion Joseph Parker in the eleventh round.
The victory gave Joyce the vacant WBO interim-title – which in turn makes him the mandatory challenger to Usyk.
Usyk picked up a win over Joyce when the two boxers were amateurs in 2013.
Last month, Usyk retained his titles with a twelve round decision win in his rematch with Anthony Joshua.
“If Usyk doesn’t want to fight me then he has to vacate the belt and then I get elevated to full champion. From there, I can defend the belt,” Joyce told Sky Sports News.
“I think I would start to get to him [if we fight],” Joyce warned, “if I can keep the pressure up. He is a very skillful fighter, but at this level it’s all going to be tough from here on in.
“This time I would be more prepared and have a proper training camp geared towards him. It’s over 12 rounds with smaller gloves and I’ve come a long way since then. It was a long time ago. It takes 10 years to reach sporting excellence. I’ve surpassed that and I’m still learning, so it would be a great fight over 12 rounds.”
Joyce holds an undefeated record with 15 wins and 14 of them came by knockout – including a stoppage win over current WBA ‘regular’ champion Daniel Dubois.
The win over Parker, by knockout, sent a big message to the heavyweight division.
“That was the next jump into the elite bracket. [Parker] is a top fighter, ex world champion, so it was a great victory for me. I think I did a good job and the future is bright – I look forward to the next couple of fights coming up,” Joyce said.
“Lots of credit to Joseph Parker, he is a tough guy. I was hitting him with everything and he was still coming back with three or four punches in between and I had to really push to get the victory. I didn’t have to fight Joseph Parker, but it then pushed me up to the next level.”