For Joe Joyce, the elephant in the room looms mighty large
"Are you not entertained?" The question had been bellowed out before by heavyweights Tyson Fury and Daniel Dubois, but in those instances the crowd had a unanimous — and positive — answer.
This time around, following Joe Joyce’s fourth defeat in five outings at the hands of Filip Hrgovic on Saturday night, the near-capacity audience inside Manchester's Co-op Live arena seemed to be taken aback, and responded with a confused murmur. It was as if Joyce (16-4, 15 KOs), now 39, was the last one in the room to notice the elephant standing behind him. An elephant in the shape of retirement.
It’s an awkward conversation in boxing. Few other professions allow such discourse to flourish behind the protagonist's back like it does in the fight game, though it's also rarely done out of disrespect. The heavyweight division is a double-edged sword, deemed the pinnacle of the sport, offering the biggest purses and prizes to those who partake, but as ever, with big reward comes bigger risk. With a seemingly endless pit of money now on offer to those fighters who are able to entertain, the allure to stick around for tomorrow’s fight is too tempting to pass up. The thing is, when tomorrow comes, it becomes today.
There has been concern around the health of Joyce for a number of years now. The 2016 Olympic silver medalist's speech can often seem slurred and his responses to interviewers' questions slow and confused. He has never been the most charismatic in front of the camera — and that is fine — but his appearances are becoming more and more awkward to the viewer.
“That’s just how Joe is,” the people in Camp Joyce will caveat as each interview concludes.
We have become conditioned and numb to seeing fighters struggle later in life due to punishment handed out to them over bruising careers; chewed up, spat out and often left to pick up their own pieces with limited help. But to be confronted by the apparent struggles of an active athlete forces more imminent questions. While the pundits and casual pint-drinkers down the local pub may feel like we have the answer, ultimately it’s the fighter’s inner circle and fighter himself who will have the final say. It may, then, become apparent who has made it into that circle for the right reasons.
Joyce’s style in the ring doesn’t help his cause. Since turning pro in 2017 he has fought like his moniker suggests, a "Juggernaut," walking forward, willing to take six punches in order to land seven. His punches are destructive but easily telegraphed, and the division seems to have collectively worked out what, for a period, remained a secret weapon.
Less than two years ago, that was his unique selling point. Off the back of wins over Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker, he was considered the boogeyman of the division, being tipped to go on to challenge for the sport’s ultimate prize. But then came the brutal back-to-back knockouts at the hands of Zhilei Zhang. The points setback to a 13-loss Derek Chisora. And now Hrgovic, plunging his stocks further.
Joyce didn’t perform terribly in Saturday's unanimous decision loss. Some will argue that the 98-92 card that accompanied the 97-93 and 96-95 offerings was too wide in favor of the more mobile and accurate Croatian Hrgovic, but in a slugfest of that nature, opinions will always be hard to align. But for these conversations to have halted, Joyce needed to win, and win well on Saturday night — which he didn’t.
Over the days and weeks that follow the hope is that Joyce and team embark on sensible and educated conversations. They are the ones who hold the ultimate power of persuasion, and the former WBO interim heavyweight champion's health cannot be compromised in any possible negotiations.
“We’ll all have a chat and we will go from there,” Joyce’s promotor, Frank Warren, stated post-fight.
It’s an encouraging admission.
We don’t hold any power. Nor should we. But perhaps the muted response to Joyce’s question on Saturday will force him to take a peak over his shoulder. Or better yet, turn around.
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