After becoming the first man to stop Joseph Parker in his tracks, Joe Joyce believes that he should be viewed as an elite-level fighter. In addition to his now elevated standing, Joyce, courtesy of his victory over Parker this past weekend, is now perched in the number one position in the WBO sanctioning body.

Still, even with the 37-year-old becoming ostensibly the next fighter in line to challenge unified heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk, Joyce (15-0, 14 KOs) would welcome a showdown against his fellow top contenders, most notably, Anthony Joshua.

Following years of Joshua claiming that Joyce is of no threat to him, the former Olympic silver medalist still has a bone to pick with the former heavyweight champion. While unlikely to take place next, Joyce offered a brazen prediction as to how their showdown would ultimately play out.

“He gets knocked out,” said Joyce to iFL TV. “He gets bashed up.”

A matchup against Joyce, while mouthwatering, appears to be the furthest thing from Joshua’s mind currently. The 32-year-old former Olympic gold medalist saw his unified title reign come to an end at the hands of Oleksandr Usyk in September of 2021.

Optimistic in his chances at making amends, the two would engage in an immediate rematch roughly one year later. But, despite his overwhelming confidence, Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) was forced to swallow yet another defeat against the Ukrainian star.

Yet, regardless of his shortcomings, WBC belt holder, Tyson Fury, issued a challenge to his fellow Brit, one that appeared to be on the verge of taking place in the first week of December.

Unsurprisingly, however, Fury and Joshua’s heavyweight clash fell by the wayside. With the former unified titlist now in search of an opponent, Joyce has anxiously raised his hand in the hopes that Joshua will select him next.

As Joyce remains encouraged in his chances to land a showdown against Joshua, he flashes back to the 32-year-old’s recent showing against Usyk. Although Joshua was praised heavily in a losing effort, Joyce becomes flummoxed by the applause.

After watching Joshua lose on back-to-back occasions, there was simply nothing that stood out to Joyce on the night.  

“His last performances, he hasn't really impressed me. His second fight against Usyk was better but that would be an interesting fight.”