Teddy Atlas Doubts Anthony Joshua Would Ever Think About Fighting Joe Joyce

Teddy Atlas doesn’t think Anthony Joshua would fight Joe Joyce.

Joshua and Joyce spent time together as amateurs and sparred several times with Joshua winning gold at the 2012 Olympics and Joyce winning gold at the 2016 Olympics. However, as Joshua has stumbled lately, Joyce has been impressive and many have talked about a potential fight between the two.

Yet, according to Atlas, he doubts that Joshua would ever fight Joyce as he thinks it is a bad matchup for the former champ.

“There is no way on God’s Earth… no way… that Joshua and his promoter are getting within…. They wouldn’t get within a ten-foot pole of Joyce in that boxing ring. No way,” Atlas stated on The Fight podcast. “I’ve been saying this guy [Joyce is] a player. This guy’s got a chin of granite. He reminds me of a younger Foreman – although I gotta be careful with that because he is 38 years old. But Joyce reminds me of George Foreman when he was in his first life before the comeback.

“Just a big guy, a ponderous puncher, a concussive puncher. Not a snappy puncher, just a blunting type puncher that does damage,” Atlas continued. “He’s big. He’s relentless. As I said, he’s got a great heart, great chin so far. I’ve been calling for this guy to be in there instead of some of the other guys to get the shot.”

Anthony Joshua (24-3) is coming off back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk by decision to lose his heavyweight titles. Prior to that, he beat Kubrat Pulev by KO and a decision win over Andy Ruiz Jr. to return to the win column. In his career, he holds notable wins over Alexander Povetkin, Joseph Parker, Carlos Takam, and Dillian Whyte among others.

Joe Joyce (15-0) became the interim WBO heavyweight champion with a KO win over Joseph Parker. In his career, he holds notable wins over Christian Hammer, Takam, Daniel Dubois, and Bryant Jennings among others.

Do you agree with Teddy Atlas that Anthony Joshua wouldn’t fight Joe Joyce?