Notebook: Heavyweight contender Joyce back in action after year off due to injury

Cruiserweight champion Briedis on road in Australia to defend vs. Opetaia; Navarrete title defense vs. Baez set; BetUS Boxing Show; Quick hits; Show and tell

Jul 01, 2022

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Heavyweight Joe Joyce is the WBO’s mandatory challenger but he knows he is in for a wait before he gets a title opportunity.

Oleksandr Usyk is defending that belt, along with his two others, against former titlist Anthony Joshua in a rematch on Aug. 20. Then the winner could very well meet WBC and lineal champion Tyson Fury the undisputed championship after that.

But Joyce is not about to sit idle, especially after having already been sidelined for nearly a year because of wrist injury.

So, the British big man will return to the ring for what most expect to be easy work in a 12-round regional title bout against journeyman Christian Hammer on Saturday (ESPN+ in the U.S., BT Sports in the U.K., 2 p.m. ET) at the OVO Arena, Wembley in London.

While Hammer cannot be viewed as a serious threat, he has faced a who’s who of quality opponents — Fury, Hughie Fury, Frank Sanchez, Luis Ortiz, Tony Yoka and Alexander Povetkin in losses — and usually gone several rounds with them, which should give Joyce a chance to put on a show while shedding the rust of the layoff and work on the things trainer Ismael Salas has been drilling him on.

Queensberry Promotions’ Frank Warren did his job at this week’s final news conference when he tried to talk up Hammer as being a potentially dangerous opponent.

“Joe is the WBO No.1 (contender) and we are looking for him to make a statement. He is in with a real tough guy in Christian Hammer, a real handful who, (two fights ago) went in with the WBO No.3 in Frank Sanchez and it went the distance,” Warren said of a 10-rounder in February. “So, he is a tough guy with a good chin. Joe has only had 13 professional fights and is in a tremendous position.

“Joe has got it all to do and I hate this type of fight to be honest. When Tyson Fury fought Otto Wallin in (Las) Vegas (in 2019) everybody thought it would be straightforward, but he got a dreadful cut and was fortunate to get to the end of the fight and not getting stopped. So, anything can happen in these fights with big fellas, and Joe has got it all to lose against Christian Hammer.”

Joyce (13-0, 12 KOs), 36, the 2016 British Olympic super heavyweight silver medalist, scored his biggest win in November 2020 when he knocked out then-undefeated and highly touted countryman Daniel Dubois in the 10th round. Dubois went on to claim the WBA “regular” heavyweight title on June 11.

Joyce followed the win over Dubois with a sixth-round knockout of former world title challenger Carlos Takam last July and then injured his wrist months later while training. But Joyce said the wrist is healed and he is anxious to fight again.

“I've had a great training camp in Las Vegas again with Salas, rehabbed the injury and I've been adding more tools to the arsenal,” Joyce said. “I am in a good place mentally, physically and I think Hammer is going to be a good test and a good fight. He is tough, durable and has been in there with some really good names. I am really looking forward to it, getting to work and maybe working on a few things in preparation for fights to come.

“I am not going to put any pressure on myself by predicting rounds. It could go the distance or I could take him out. He is a strong guy and I have seen him throw some big shots. It is a risky fight because I have got something they all want.”

Hammer (27-9, 17 KOs), 34, of Germany, who has been stopped in four of his losses, has had mixed success in previous fights in England. Tyson Fury and Hughie Fury both stopped him but he also scored an upset seventh-round knockout of David Price in 2017. He’d love to even his U.K. record at 2-2.

“I am really happy to get the chance of a fight with Joyce and I am looking forward to it,” Hammer said. “I am feeling very well and I am in good shape. This is a big chance for me and I will give everything. I haven't come here only for travel. For this fight I have prepared really well and I want to show everyone a good fight.”

Briedis defends Down Under

Cruiserweight king Mairis Briedis is one of boxing’s ultimate road warriors, so he was fine with heading to Broadbeach, Australia to defend his Ring magazine and IBF belts at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in the home country of Jai Opetaia, whom he will fight on Saturday (ESPN+, 5 a.m. ET).

Briedis (28-1, 20 KOs), 37, of Latvia, who will be making the second defense of his second title reign, will be fighting in his eighth different country, having previously boxed in Latvia, Poland, the United States, Greece, Germany, Russia and England.

He seemed awfully comfortable on enemy turf when he took on a bit of the local flavor at Thursday’s final news conference by donning a Crocodile Dundee-style hat.

“What I’ve seen on the tapes of Jai, he’s got good technique. He’s flexible, has good speed, and he’ll be happy fighting in his home country,” said Briedis, whose only loss was a majority decision in a 2018 cruiserweight unification fight with current unified heavyweight titlist Oleksandr Usyk. “What you see on tape is very different to what you see in the ring. The most important thing for me is to enjoy this fight. I like being in fights that boxing fans find interesting and exciting. It’s for them and we’ll be doing our best in the ring.”

This is the third date for the fight, which was previously postponed from April 6 because Briedis came down with Covid-19 and then from May 11 because Opetaia suffered a rib injury.

For IBF mandatory challenger Opetaia (21-0, 17 KOs), a 27-year-old southpaw and 2012 Australian Olympia, who did not turn pro until 2015, it will be a huge step up in opposition.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this opportunity,” Opetaia said. “I can’t wait and I feel ready. I know he’s a great fighter, but I’m a new generation of great coming through. Everything he’s done, that’s all in the past now. It’s my time.

“I know this is a big step up from my past competition. My last fights I blew them out of the water. I was levels above, and I’m ready to become a world champion. I’m ready for those deep waters. I’m ready to dig deep. I know this is going to be a war and I’m ready for it.”

Both fighters both were under the 200-pound weight limit at Friday’s weigh-in. Briedis was 199 pounds and Opetaia was 198.4.

BetUS Boxing Show

Our BetUS YouTube show is usually live on Friday’s at 1 p.m. ET, but because of the July 4th holiday weekend this week the show was on Thursday. If you missed us live, please check out the replay (and also subscribe to the YouTube channel). We had full previews with picks on Saturday’s two most notable fights, cruiserweight champion Mairis Briedis’ defense against Jai Opetaia in Australia and heavyweight contender Joy Joyce’s bout with Christian Hammer in London. Watch the show here:

Navarrete-Baez card official

Mexico’s Emanuel Navarrete will end a 10-month layoff and defend his WBO featherweight title against countryman Eduardo Baez on Aug. 20 in the Top Rank main event (ESPN/ESPN Deportes/ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET) at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, Top Rank announced, confirming what Fight Freaks Unite reported on June 22.

In making the announcement, Top Rank also said that Navarrete has signed “a new multi-year promotional agreement with Top Rank that will see him fight on the ESPN family of networks in events promoted in association with Zanfer Promotions.”

Navarrete (35-1, 29 KOs), 27, who has not fought since pounding out a decision over Joet Gonzalez in an ultra-exciting fight in October, also at Pechanga Arena, will be making his third defense.

“I am very excited to finally be back in the ring on Aug. 20,” Navarrete said. ”The inactivity of has served to give my body the rest it needed and to reflect on many things. Now I'm coming back stronger physically and mentally. I'm going to show that I'm ready to fight any champion at 126 or 130 pounds. There will be a lot of ‘Vaquero’ for a long time.”

Baez (21-2-2, 7 KOs), 26, dropped a majority decision to junior featherweight contender Ra’eese Aleem in November 2021 but rebounded for a majority decision over Jose Vivas on March 26 on a Top Rank undercard in Las Vegas and now gets an unexpected title opportunity.

Top Rank also announced two other bouts for the tripleheader:

San Diego welterweight Giovani Santillan (29-0, 16 KOs), 30, a southpaw trained by Robert Garcia, is due to face Rodolfo Orozco (30-3-3, 22 KOs), 23, of Mexico, in the 10-round co-feature.
Las Vegas middleweight Nico Ali Walsh (5-0, 4 KOs), 21, the grandson of Muhammad Ali, will face Reyes Sanchez (7-2, 3 KOs), 30, of Topeka, Kansas, in a four-round rematch of their December 2021 bout that Ali Walsh won by majority decision. Ali Walsh will fight in the same venue — then known as the San Diego Sports Arena — that hosted one of his grandfather’s most famous fights, a March 1973 bout against Ken Norton, who broke Ali’s jaw and won by split decision in a major upset.

“Despite winning our last fight, I feel like I must set the record straight with Reyes Sanchez,” Ali Walsh said. “He’s the only opponent I haven’t knocked out, and I don’t see the rematch going the distance.”

In preliminary action exclusively on ESPN+, 2016 Mexican Olympian Lindolfo Delgado (15-0, 13 KOs) will face countryman Omar Aguilar (24-0, 23 KOs) in an eight-round junior welterweight bout; featherweight Luis Alberto Lopez (25-2, 14 KOs), who is the IBF mandatory challenger, will stay busy in an eight-rounder against Colombia’s Yeison Vargas (20-10, 15 KOs); and Sacramento, California, junior lightweight Xavier Martinez (17-1, 11 KOs) will face Alejandro Guerrero (12-2, 9 KOs), of Irving, Texas, in an eight-rounder seeking to bounce back from his first loss, which was a decision to top contender Robson Conceicao on Jan. 29.

Quick hits

The fight between WBA junior lightweight titlist Roger Gutierrez (26-3-1, 20 KOs), 27, of Venezuela, and mandatory challenger Hector Garcia (15-0, 10 KOs), 30, a southpaw from the Dominican Republic, which was slated for July 10 as part of the WBA’s charity KO Drugs Festival in Caracas, Venezuela, is off and the WBA has ordered a purse bid. According to Gutierrez promoter Golden Boy, the fight was being financed by the Venezuelan government, but it backed out, causing the deal to fall apart. So, while Golden Boy and PBC, which represents Garcia, are talking, the WBA this week gave the sides until July 12 to make a deal or a purse bid will be ordered. In February, Garcia earned the title shot off his lopsided upset decision over Chris Colbert, who had been Gutierrez’s mandatory challenger.

Boxxer announced that an all-British cruiserweight fight between European champion Chris Billam-Smith (15-1, 11 KOs), 31, and Isaac Chamberlain (14-1, 8 KOs), 28, will headline its Sky Sports card on July 30 in Bournemouth, England, Billam-Smith’s hometown. The card will include the pro debut of light heavyweight Ben Whittaker, 24, a British Olympic silver medalist at last summer’s delayed Tokyo Olympics, against Greg O’Neill (6-6-1, 1 KO) in a six-rounder. Whittaker, who is trained by SugarHill Steward, was initially scheduled to debut on Saturday before that Hughie Fury-Michael Hunter-headlined card was postponed. Also on the card will be heavyweight Frazer Clarke (1-0, 1 KO), a 2020 British Olympic bronze medalist and the team captain.

Australian bantamweight contender Jason Moloney (24-2, 19 KOs), 31, is now No. 1 in both the WBC and WBO rankings following his impressive third-round knockout of former world title challenger Aston Palicte last month on the Devin Haney-George Kambosos undercard. He is hoping to land a third world title shot after suffering his only two losses in title bouts against Naoya Inoue (2020) and Emmanuel Rodriguez (2017). “I'd love the Paul Butler fight,” Moloney said of facing the WBO titlist, although Butler could be headed for an undisputed title fight with Inoue next. “I respect Paul he's a very good fighter, but I win that fight every day of the week and the boxing world knows that. If that fight can be made, that's great. I wouldn't stand in the way of a four-belt unification, of course. I respect the sport, but if Inoue-Butler can't be made I'll happily fight Butler next.”

Show and tell

On his way up, Mike Tyson entranced boxing fans with a string of sensational knockouts, and in 1986 fulfilled the prophecy of his late trainer and guardian, Cus D’Amato, by becoming the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history when he scored a memorable second-round destruction of Trevor Berbick at age 20. Tyson became a mega star and one of the most famous people on the planet. He would make nine title defenses before getting knocked out by Buster Douglas in 1990 in the biggest upset in boxing history and one of the biggest upsets ever in sports. Tyson would spend time in prison, win another world title, have many more huge fights even if he never recaptured his prime glory and make news regularly with his issues outside the ring. Though Tyson has been retired from the ring for 17 years, he remains in the spotlight with his various projects and is still one of the most famous people in the world. He turned 56 on Thursday.

Here is a mint rookie from the 1986 Italian Panini multi-sport sticker set in my collection. It is one of the most iconic boxing cards of all time and is highly sought after, but extremely tough to find in top condition. PSA has graded a total of 116 of them with only 18 at the 9 level and three at the gem mint 10 level. I bought an ungraded one several years ago and submitted it to PSA and was thrilled with the result. Most of my other graded cards were already slabbed when I purchased them.

Joyce-Hammer photo: Queensberry Promotions; Briedis-Opetaia photo: D&L Events

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