Joe Joyce Moves to 5-0

Joe Joyce Moves to 5-0

The British heavyweight propsect Joe Joyce improved his record to 5-0 when he beat the late replacement Croatia’s Ivica Bacurin in under two minutes at York Hall in Bethnal Green.

Bacurin a former opponent of Tony Bellew, was a late replacement after original opponent Richard Lartey pulled out on Thursday, and he only lasted 1:54 of the opening round.

Joyce at 32 knows he can’t hang around and is targeting a fight with Hughie Fury, but whoever he fights next, the competition needs to be a serious step up from what we saw on Friday night.

The MMA star Michael ‘Venom’ Page had his 2nd appearance in a boxing ring on the same show and is now 2-0 after a 2nd round win over Michal Clach.

The flamboyant Page danced and showboated in the 1st round against a clearly inferior opponent, Clach was 1-5, before a big right hand finished the proceedings at 0:18 of the 2nd round.

Page is undoubtedly talented, but in this modern era you can’t compete effectively in both boxing and MMA. At 31 Page is in danger of not fulfilling his talents at either.

Personally speaking MMA is where he should focus his energy, where he is also unbeaten. Page competes in Bellator and there are some very big fights there for him in that organisation, we need to see just how good he is, at the moment the jury is still very much out.