Former Dubois opponent insists a rematch is on the cards

Joyce beat Dubois in 2020 and believes he could rematch the WBO champion in the near future

Ahead of his return to the ring, former WBO Interim Champion Joe Joyce (16-4) has told Sky Sports that a rematch with Daniel Dubois (23-3) is “an attractive option”.

In 2020, Joyce became the first fighter to defeat Dubois. After sustaining significant damage to his left eye during the fight, Dubois took a knee and was counted out by the referee. Joyce officially won the fight via 10th round KO.

The silver medallist then won two more fights before stopping Joseph Parker (36-4) in 2022 to win the WBO Interim Heavyweight title.

Although Joyce was in line for a shot at the full world title next, he chose to stay active. Joyce fought Zhilei Zhang twice in 2023, losing via TKO in their first fight and by brutal KO in the second.

Since then, the man once known for his iron chin has won one of his last three fights, making him 1-4 in his last five outings.

After their fight in 2020, Dubois remained more active, going 8-2 in his last ten. Despite losing twice to Oleksandr Usyk (25-0) in world title fights, the heavy-handed fighter has significantly improved and has now become a two-time heavyweight champion.

He beat Anthony Joshua (29-4) via KO in 2024 to win the IBF title. In his most recent fight, he got up off the canvas twice to finish the defending WBO champion Fabio Wardley (20-1) via TKO and now holds the WBO title.

However, if Joyce is to stand any chance of securing a rematch with Dubois, he must win his next fight. The Juggernaut will face the undefeated Artem Suslenkov (14-0) on the Gassiev-Yoka undercard on July 11 in Moscow.

Ahead of this fight, the Olympian told Sky Sports that a rematch with Dubois is “always an attractive option”.

“Before I took Zhang, which was obviously a bad decision, I was WBO interim champion off the back of beating Dubois and Parker. So it's just like a bit of a mistake that I'm going to rectify now. The motivation is getting the win and getting back in there and putting in a dominant performance.”

The 40-year-old also added: "I've made some changes and I'm training hard and getting ready for that fight. I've been training, I've been learning this year, I've been putting in the work so I'm ready to show you what I've learned."

Dubois’ next fight looks set to be a rematch with Wardley, after Wardley activated the rematch clause in their original fight contract.

Once the dust settles, Joyce may target a rematch with Dubois. However, even if Dubois loses to Wardley, this matchup still seems unlikely.

As his record shows, Dubois has more recently been competing at a level Joyce was unable to reach previously and is unlikely to reach at 40.

If both Londoners were to fight, Dubois’ improvements since their first meeting, combined with Joyce’s drop-off in form since facing Zhang, would suggest that this fight is now a mismatch.

That being said, the former interim heavyweight champion may feel that he has Dubois’ number. If he pushes for the fight and it is made, and the reigning WBO Champion has any mental scars from the first fight, then the rematch could be a lot closer than it appears on paper.