Joe Joyce vs Derek Chisora announced as fight with forgotten heavyweight collapses
Joe Joyce will face Derek Chisora in a heavyweight clash on July 27 at London's O2 Arena.
'The Juggernaut' (16-2) is set to continue rebuilding his career after suffering back-to-back drubbings at the hands of Zhilei Zhang last year.
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Before losing to Zhang, Joyce blasted out Joseph Parker to become Oleksandr Usyk's WBO mandatory.
For a time he looked destined to fight for world honours, but now he is left with the arduous task of clawing his way back into the world title.
Last time out he recorded a last-gasp stoppage win over Kash Ali and he will be hoping to continue that momentum against Chisora this summer.
'Del Boy' comes into the fight off of a points win against Gerald Washington in August.
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This will mark the tenth time the popular 40-year-old Brit has fought at the O2 Arena during his 47-fight (34-13) career.
But according to Billy Nelson, trainer and manager of heavyweight contender Martin Bakole, his fighter was in talks to fight Joyce first before discussions collapsed.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Nelson wrote: "As expected Joe Joyce has pulled out of his arranged fight with Martin Bakole to fight Chisora.
"For a man who claimed he crippled Martin with body shots, you’d think he’d gladly fight him.
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"When you talk s**** you need to back it up, didn’t fancy not sleeping for another 9 weeks."
Joyce and Bakole's camps have been trading barbs since a video of a wild sparring session between the pair was leaked online.
In the clip, Bakole can be seen knocking Joyce's head guard off as he unloads a vicious combination.
Wild sparring footage leaked of Martin Bakole sending Joe Joyce's headguard flying and then Bakole throwing up in a bucket
Bakole uploaded the video to his social media channels, with the caption: "This is the reason why UK heavyweights are avoiding me guys."
However, it appears Bakole's snippet may not tell the full story.
Sam Jones, Joyce's former manager, replied to the leak by posting a clip of his own which shows Bakole on his knees throwing up into a bucket after sparring with Joyce at the same gym.
Bakole (20-1) is ranked by all four major sanctioning bodies and is the No.1 rated heavyweight with the WBA.
In his last outing, he defeated former world title challenger Carlos Takam on the Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou undercard in October.
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