Joe Joyce ruefully sighs when he considers the IBF world heavyweight title fight between his English rivals Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua on Sep. 21.
Joyce was the WBA mandatory challenger after defeating Bermane Stiverne in 2019, but never got the chance to fight for the title. He then became the WBO interim champion -- and next in line for a world title shot -- by stopping Joseph Parker in September 2022, before suffering back-to-back losses to Zhilei Zhang.
"I've been so, so close two times," Joyce told ESPN from his training camp in Las Vegas with coach Ismael Salas. "Once with the WBA, then with the WBO. Only in heavyweight boxing [that] Dubois got elevated straight away with the IBF and I was like, 'What's going on?' I just have to beat whoever is in front of me now and pray I will get the opportunities I deserve."
Joyce (16-2, 15 KOs) has seen his career lurch into reverse, while others have overtaken him to fight for a world title. One of those fighters is Dubois, whom Joyce defeated by KO in 2020. However, Joyce's losses to Zhang have forced him to languish outside the top 10 in three world governing body rankings, and at No. 9 with the WBC.
Joyce, 38, who turned professional after winning a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics at 31, can pick up speed if he beats Derek Chisora (34-13, 23 KOs) at O2 Arena in London on Saturday (ESPN+, 3:30 p.m. ET). A win could edge him closer to featuring in the lucrative fights now being staged in Saudi Arabia. Joyce's loss of status came just as Saudi Arabian money began flooding into boxing last year, but he hopes he can repair the damage done to his career just as Dubois and Joshua have.
Joyce, from Putney in southwest London, stopped Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs), 26, in Round 10, fracturing Dubois' left eye socket in the process. But Dubois got himself back into position to challenge Oleksandr Usyk for the WBA, IBF and WBO world heavyweight titles a year ago.
Dubois' spirited effort ended in a ninth-round stoppage defeat, but once again he revived his career with wins over Jarrell "Big Baby" Miller and then Filip Hrgovic. He stopped Hrgovic on cuts for the IBF interim title, and was elevated to the full champion when Usyk announced in June he was vacating the title to face Tyson Fury in a rematch instead of facing Hrgovic, his mandatory challenger. (Usyk, the WBC, WBA, WBO champion, fights Fury on Dec. 21.)
Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs), 34, has also rebounded from setbacks, twice losing decisions to Usyk in 2021 and 2022.
Joshua, a two-time world champion, has since put together four wins and looks in sensational form ahead of challenging Dubois for the IBF belt in front of a potential packed house at Wembley Stadium in London.
"I beat Dubois, and everyone thought AJ was on the way out after losing to Usyk," Joyce told ESPN. "But [Joshua] has shown that disgusting overhand right of his in recent fights and he's back on top. Dubois has come back, too. He lost to me and Usyk, and now he's [the] IBF champion and I was like, 'What?!' It's swings and roundabouts. It shows things can change quickly. One or two wins can change the rankings and title shots.
"I've traveled to Las Vegas to get the best training. I'm confident in my team to get me the fights."
Joyce, who will turn 39 in September, remains optimistic about his future in the sport; after all, his opponent on Saturday, Chisora, is 40 years old, and Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KOs) is 41. Zhang, from China but based in New Jersey, knocked out Joyce in three rounds last September. That loss came just five months after Joyce lost the WBO interim title to Zhang by a sixth-round stoppage.
"Chisora was a professional when I was just starting out in boxing," Joyce said. "He gives it everything and it will not be an easy challenge. People have been waiting for this fight for ages.
"Off the back of it, there are great fights out there for me. I'm not done yet, I've got more to give the sport. I've been boxing [for] 16 years and have got more years left. I had an awkward couple of fights with Zhang, but now I'm back. There's plenty left before I hang up the gloves."
Although the fights against Zhang didn't go his way and derailed his way to a title shot, Joyce spoke highly of Zhang's ability in the ring. But he's leaving that behind and prefers to look to the future.
"Zhang is a good fighter, he's a threat," Joyce said. "He's accurate, strong with the backhand and he's awkward as a southpaw. I was waiting for a long time as [the] WBO mandatory champion, so I gave Zhang the chance and sometimes it happens. I won my last fight against Kash Ali [by KO10 in March] and I have a big fight coming up.
"Everyone has got an opinion about me and people like to nitpick, especially the commentary, and sometimes I find it biased. I think I can prove to everyone I'm still the juggernaut by name and nature."
Queensberry Promotions' Frank Warren, Joyce's promoter, says big fights are within reach for Joyce, so long as he beats Chisora, who has suffered four defeats in his last six fights, including a 10th-round stoppage to Fury for the WBC title in 2022.
"What's next for Joe depends on the outcome of this fight," Warren told ESPN. "I thought Derek Chisora should have retired a few years ago but he's back, and because of their age, the loser of this fight goes to the bottom of the pile. If Joe gets beat by Derek, I don't know where he goes. But Joe doesn't have miles on the clock like Derek. Joe suffered a bad injury against Zhang in their first fight, but then suffered an emphatic knockout in the second fight and he needs a good win.
"Remember, Joe beat Joseph Parker in September 2022, and look where Parker is now after beating Deontay Wilder and Zhang. The way this heavyweight division is right now, you can turn your career around in a couple of fights."
Warren said that with three of the belts being contested in December at Usyk-Fury 2 and the other on Sept. 21 with Dubois vs. Joshua, he believes Joyce could fight the winner of the Dubois-Joshua fight.
"Either way, it would be a great all-U.K. fight, and Joe has got history with both of them. [Joyce used to spar with Joshua as an amateur.] I hope it's Dubois, obviously. It would be a great rematch, especially after how their fight ended with a bad injury for Dubois."
Joyce has a university degree in fine art and enjoys painting when he is not boxing. But he is concentrating on boxing for a little while longer as he tries to propel himself back towards bigger opportunities.
"I definitely want to get back in the studio, and have my own studio one day, but at the moment I want to do the best I can in boxing," Joyce said.