Joe Joyce came through a heavyweight classic on Saturday night to prove once again why ‘they don’t want a war with Big Juggernaut’.

As the boxing world watches on in the midst of negotiations for one of the sport’s biggest ever fights, between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, it was about right that Joyce and Joseph Parker gave us something inside the ring to shift our focus.

It was a fight that from the outside looked like it would write itself. Two conflicting styles that, when implemented, could make for an intriguing war of attrition.

Round one started as expected, with Parker poking out a few jabs and Joyce looking to land something of note early. It was Parker, however, who with the round coming to a close, landed on Joyce’s chin… You know the rest.

Joyce got his work off better in the second, to which Parker responded with some body action. Perhaps this was Parker’s plan moving into action.

Round three began with a Joyce left hand, backed up by some thudding bodywork. Parker replied by putting together some combinations but, unflustered as ever, Joyce peppered out his jab and threw more heat to the body.

This was the fight we wanted.

Parker came out for the fourth with intention. Intention to halt Joyce from dictating the direction of the fight. He fired off some neat work, and Joyce’s defence stayed solid until the biggest punch of the fight so far hit Joyce flush on the whiskers. No response.

Round five didn’t match the action of the last, as Parker looked to get his breath back after working away at a resilient Joyce through the fourth.

Joyce bounded out for the sixth and went straight on the offensive. Some heavy shots upstairs were matched by some equally forceful work to the body. With Parker seemingly breaking, Joyce was relentless in attack, neglecting all concern for what Parker might throw back.

As we crossed the halfway stage, Joyce was well in control. His jab part of an arsenal of weapons that was slowly breaking Parker’s will.

Round seven bought action again and Parker, to his credit, came out with purpose. A right hand landed early, but a vicious bodyshot came in response.

The eighth had Parker really hanging on. With the eye worse for wear, Joyce worked Parker at range and when given the chance, threw hell to the body which had Parker in dire straits.

Round nine followed suit, not just in terms of this fight, but Joyce’s professional career, as he once again ate a powerful uppercut but came shooting back. Parker looked sapped for energy, and it looked like anything other than a miracle would see him face career defeat number three.

The 10th was a tired affair, and both men threw shots that lacked the vigour of previous rounds. Joyce connected with a looping right, before Parker came back with a left of his own.

Then came the 11th, and the end of an absolute barnstormer. Joyce, with a seeming determination to finish the fight, went after Parker and landed a peach of a left hook.

Game. Over.

So, a mega win for Joyce, who once again delivered on an entertainment front, and walked away with the WBO interim title to show.

He’ll cop some hate, most fighters do, but Joyce is a heavyweight who should be celebrated. Sure, he wasn’t crafted from the Mayweather playbook, but it is his neglection of technique that in fact works in his favour. One man’s flaw is another man’s power.

Just imagine being faced with a marauding 19 stone machine, who you hit with a punch that could knock out a horse, only to see him barely bat an eyelid. The man is a freak of nature.

No doubt it is these qualities that, for me, will inevitably take him to heavyweight glory.

As with every fighter after such a win, they are the talk of the boxing town. Could he eat what Deontay Wilder would feed him? Could he suffocate Oleksandr Usyk? Would he get near a dancing Gypsy King?

The best thing about Joyce? Every answer would make for pure, unadulterated entertainment. Now, go get a rest Joe, because British boxing needs you.

Oscar Bevis

Official reporter for iFL TV