Joe Joyce is confident of making a winning start to his professional boxing career against former British title challenger Ian Lewison on Friday October 20 at the O2 Indigo.
At the age of 32, Joyce is making the transition into pro boxing relatively late after enjoying an extremely successful amateur career, winning Olympic silver at Rio 2016.
Lewison is widely considered to be a tough opponent, but Joyce, nicknamed “the Juggernaut,” sees things differently.
He said: “Obviously I’m going to be careful, but once I feel him out, I’ll take him out.
“I’ve sparred with the best in Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Mike Perez.
“I’m not going to look too far ahead, I need to deal with Ian Lewison first and once I beat him I can look to future bouts. There are plans in the pipeline.”
Joyce intends to make a fast impact in a messy heavyweight division and wants to step up and challenge for a belt as soon as possible.
When asked on about his title ambitions, he said: “A British title or Commonwealth belt in the next two fights.”
The Putney native has relished the move from amateur boxing to the professional ranks.
He said: “I’ve enjoyed the transition, more head movement, refining my game.
‘It differs from the GB set up, which has a template for all boxers, instead of just fine tuning me.”
Recently signed to David Haye’s newly formed ‘Hayemaker Ringstar’ Joyce will headline the promotion company’s inaugural event.
The fight on Friday will be 10 rounds, which is longer than most heavyweights start their professional careers with.
He said: “I pushed for it, I do 12 rounds easily, coming from the WSB (World Series Boxing) where we go five it built me up.
“It works better for me going the longer rounds.”
Lewison has a solid pro record of 12-3-1 and went 10 rounds against Dillian Whyte last October.
Former champion David Haye has high praise for the heavyweight and believes this fight will highlight his attributes and supports the idea to fast track Joyce.
He told FightHype: “He’s the real deal and I’m not afraid to show it and I’m very confident in his abilities.”
There is a lot of noise around Joyce and Hayemaker Ringstar, and Friday night’s event, broadcast free-to-air on Dave, will answer a lot of questions surrounding both.
