By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten British heavyweight hopeful Joe Joyce will be taking on Michael Wallisch of Germany in Stratford, England this Saturday, July 25th. The 10-round bout can be seen live in America on ESPN+ while fans in the UK can catch it on BT Sports 1. Joyce, who hails from London, last fought a year ago when be beat Bryant Jennings by a 12-round unanimous decision last July. Wallisch was in action last in September when he was stopped in the third round by Tony Yoka.
Joyce is 34 years old and didn’t turn pro until late in 2017. He enjoyed a fine amateur career with gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 European Games. He also took home a silver from the 2016 Olympics in Brazil in the super-heavyweight division when he lost the gold-medal match to Tony Yoka of France. Joyce owns a perfect record of 10-0 with nine of his wins coming by way of knockout. He stands 6-feet-6-inches tall with an 80-inch reach and it’s obvious he has some power in his fists with a 90 per cent knockout record.
His opponents so far have been Jennings, Alexander Ustinov, former WBC World Champion Bermane Stiverne, Ian Lewison, Rudolf Jozic, Donnie Palmer, Lenroy Thomas, Ivica Bacurin, Iago Kiladze and Joe Hanks. Not an elite list but each one of them did have winning records. Joyce’s boxing skills haven’t had a chance to be showcased very often as he has four first-round Kos as well as one in the second stanza and one in the third and as boxed just 40 rounds since turning pro. The Commonwealth Champion also won the vacant vacant WBA Continental Heavyweight Belt with his win over Hanks in December, 2018.
Wallisch is also 34 years old and will climb through the ropes with a mark of 20-3 with 13 Kos. He’s just over 6-feet-5-inches tall with a reach of 77 inches. He’s just half-an-inch shorter than Joyce and gives up three inches in reach. He made his pro debut in 2010 and has boxed 96 rounds since. Wallisch had a brief amateur career of about 30 fights and won the German International Heavyweight Title in 2011.
All three of Wallisch’s losses have come in his last four outings and he’s been stopped in each one of them over a span of 10 months. He was halted by Christian Hammer in the fifth round in December, 2018 then stopped by Efe Ajagba in the second round four months later and then suffered the loss to Yoka five months after that. However, he did manage to beat Abdulnaser by second-round TKO two months before losing to Yoka.
It’s perhaps surprising Wallisch hasn’t been suspended due to suffering three knockouts in such a short span and his chin is obviously questionable. As far as power goes, he’s a big guy and has a current knockout ratio of 56.5 per cent. Since turning pro, Wallisch has captured the Global Boxing Union World Heavyweight Title, the WBO European Heavyweight Crown and the German Title. His biggest wins have been against Yakup Saglam, Lars Bucholz, Frank Schadwill, Fabio Tuiach, and Ivica Bacurin.
Prediction…
Wallisch has struggled when stepping up in class by being stopped each time. He’s fought just 11 opponents who owned winning records and his lack of experience in that respect definitely won’t help him. It’s hard to say if Joyce is the real deal with a solid enough chin but, I’m expecting him to beat Wallisch.
