Joe Joyce’s manager says Chisora, Povetkin, Parker & Kabayel turned down fight for July 13

By Charles Brun

Boxingnew24.com

Joe Joyce’s manager Sam Jones says that he wasn’t able to get Alexander Povetkin, Joseph Parker, Dereck Chisora or Agit Kabayel to agree to face the unbeaten Joyce (9-0, 9 KOs) for his next fight date on July 13 at the O2 Arena in London, England. Jones is now mentioning former two-time heavyweight world title challenger Eric Molina, Bryant Jennings and Chris Arreola as the next possible options.

Arreola, 38, appears to be headed for a fight against Adam Kownacki on August 3rd, so he’s not likely a strong possibility for Joyce’s July 13th fight at the O2 Arena.

Joyce’s manager Sam Jones said this on social media about his efforts to get him an opponent for July 13:

“So, Kabayel, Chisora, Povetkin & Parker all have turned it down. Kabayel is having a mandatory, and will then have to fight Joe next as will the winner of Charr v Bryan for the WBA regular. Who would the fans like to see Joe fight on July 13 at the 02 Arena? Also, Jennings would beat [Tom] Schwarz, [Andy] Ruiz and [Dominic] Breazeale #facts.”

Jones listed these fighters that he wants the fans to choose from for Joyce’s July 13 fight:

– Bryant Jennings

– Eric Molina

– Chris Arreola

Even getting Jennings or Molina to agree to a fight against Joyce could prove to be difficult. Jennings is with Top Rank Boxing, and they might not be thrilled as the prospects of letting him fight a big guy like Joyce in a high risk low reward type of fight. Jennings (24-3, 14 KOs) might not ever get a heavyweight world title shot, but he is useful to Top Rank as an opponent for their other heavyweights Tyson Fury and Kubrat Pulev. The 37-year-old Eric Molina (27-5, 19 KOs) still has life left in his 12-year career despite losses to Dominic Breazeale, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder. Molina is one of those guys that will keep getting shots at big fights for some reason. If Molina takes a risky fight against Joyce, he could ruin his viability for a future world title shot.

It’s not all that surprising that the 39-year-old Povetkin (34-2, 24 KOs) turned down the Joyce fight. Former World Boxing Association heavyweight champion Povetkin is coming off of a seventh round knockout loss at the hands of IBF/WBA/WBO champion Anthony Joshua last September. Going from a loss to the 6’6″ Joshua to a fight against an equally huge 6’6″ Joyce wouldn’t make sense unless there was a lot of money on the line, which there probably wouldn’t be. Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn is interested in using Povetkin for his fighters Oleksandr Usyk and Michael Hunter. It might be tough for Joyce’s management to match the kind of money that Hearn would be willing to offer Povetkin to face Usyk and/or Hunter.

If Jones can’t get Molina or Jennings to take the fight with Joyce on July 13, then there’s always one of these fighters:

– Kevin Johnson

– Martin Bakole Ilunga

– Charles Martin

– Carlos Takam

– Richard Lartey

– Ivan Dychko

Joyce needs to get ranked in the top 15, and start fighting as frequently as possible. Once Joyce gets ranked high, one of the sanctioning bodies will order a title eliminator between him and one of the highly ranked contenders that wasn’t interested in fighting him. Joyce can then fight a top guy to get a mandatory spot. Until then, it’s going to be difficult for Joyce to get a crack at a title.

Last Saturday, Joyce stopped 42-year-old Alexander Ustinov (34-4, 25 KOs) in the third round on the undercard of Billy Joe Saunders vs. Shefat Isufi at the Lamex Stadium, in Stevenage, England. Joyce looked even slower than Ustinov, which was kind of surprising, because it was thought going in that he would have a bit more speed than the big 6’7 /2″ Russian fighter.