sixth round, overwhelming him with a barrage of punches and forcing referee Steve Gray to halt the fight. The official result was a sixth-round technical knockout victory for Joyce. In his post-fight interview, he named the two opponents that he would be interested in facing next: "What I want is AJ or [Oleksandr] Usyk." Joyce vs. Hammer Joyce's next fight would also take place at the SSE Arena, almost one year later on 2 July 2022 against Christian Hammer. He knocked Hammer to the canvas multiple times, before finally finishing off his opponent with a left hook to the body in the fourth round. After the fight, Joyce asserted, "I'm top level ready for the world stage. I'm ready for all comers and I'm looking to fight the winner of AJ-Usyk, maybe Tyson Fury. I'm at that level." WBO interim heavyweight champion Joyce vs. Parker On 24 September 2022, Joyce headlined a BT Sport Box Office pay-per-view show against former WBO champion Joseph Parker at the AO Arena in Manchester, England, in a fight between the WBO's number 1 and 2 contenders for the vacant interim title. In a fast-paced bout in which both men landed power punches, Joyce was able to bloody Parker's nose and open a cut above his eye, fighting largely on the front foot and using his jab to set up his attacks, while Parker was able to work off the back foot, finding some success with the left hook and overhand right. In the eleventh round, Joyce knocked his opponent down with a powerful left hook. Parker was able to rise to his feet, but the referee deemed it unsafe for him to continue, halting the fight to declare Joyce the winner by eleventh-round knockout. With the result, Joyce became the first man to stop Parker, who had previously never been knocked out. Joyce made it clear that he wanted to face the full WBO champion next, saying, "[Oleksandr] Usyk, let's get it on." Joyce vs. Zhang On 2 February 2023, it was officially announced that Joyce would be making the first defence of his WBO interim title against southpaw contender Zhang Zhilei at the Copper Box Arena in London, England on 15 April 2023. Professional boxing record References External links Joe Joyce - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings at Box.Live |- 1985 births Living people English male boxers Boxers from Greater London English