The Battle of Britain could be coming to boxing this year.
While we may have a long wait for Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury to meet in the ring, two of England’s best heavyweights are lining up to go head-to-head this year.
Joe Joyce and Daniel Dubois look set to for an almighty match-up with The Athletic reporting terms for an April clash have been agreed between the pair after promoter Frank Warren revealed on Sunday plans for the fight were ‘coming along nicely’.
Potentially fighting for the EBU title, the winner will be well-placed for the heavyweight division.
Although not entirely confirmed at the time of writing, with the EBU having ordered Joe Joyce vs Filip Hrgovic for the European title, it's looking likely and it sets up 2020 for one Great British bust-up.
Both undefeated, Dubois with 14 wins and 13 kos and Joyce boasting 10 victories and nine knockouts, they should be applauded for taking the fight.
The duo have burgeoning reputations they are potentially putting on the line but, bravely, they’re both ready.
With impressive records, they’ve taken to their professional careers from different standpoints which adds to the intrigue.
While Dubois is only 22, he kicked off his pro career in 2017 and is the young hopeful packed with potential and a punch while Joyce is his twelve years his senior and spent years on the amateur circuit.
However, since turning pro, he has beaten former-world champion Bermane Stiverne, who has twice taken on Deontay Wilder, while also getting the better of tough American veteran Bryant Jennings.
Dubois meanwhile inflicted a first defeat on Cheshire’s Nathan Gorman last year, another highly-promising British heavyweight, and has been tipped to follow in the footsteps of AJ, with an appeal which could attract the masses.
It’s a risk for Joyce, being the much older fighter, but Warren dismissed any worries and insisted it’s the right bout for the man nicknamed ‘Juggernaut.’
Writing on boxingscene.com, he insisted: “Daniel Dubois v Joe Joyce is an absolute banger of a fight between two heavyweights of enormous potential and pedigree. It is the biggest fight to be made for either of them so it needs to happen.
“I hear the argument over where would be left for Joe to go should he be defeated by a much younger man in Daniel. It is nonsense to say it would be fatal for his career.
“Joe is a top-drawer operator, an elite amateur who has taken the plunge right from the beginning in the professional game. It is never a just a loss that affects a fighter’s prospects, it is how you lose and who against.
“There would be no shame in losing to Daniel, or vice-versa. If you make a big fight that the public want to see then somebody has got to lose on the majority of occasions.”
“What is for sure is there would be no turning back for either Daniel or Joe once this fight is in place. It will be big, meaningful fights all the way to the top for our big fellas.”
A win for either will propel their names and career forwards. This is a worth risk taking and they know it.
