Joe Joyce got another notable win under his resume, but it came after 12 tough rounds against Bryant Jennings.
In the co-main event bout of a Queensberry Promotions card from The O2 that was streamed on ESPN+ in the United States, Joyce retained his WBA Gold heavyweight title with a unanimous decision against Bryant Jennings. Joyce won with scores of 118-109, 117-110 and 115-112.
The scorecards did not reflect how competitive the bout was, even from the beginning. Joyce was the more active fighter in the first round, but it was Jennings who landed a big left hook to the body that had Joyce favoring his right side for the next round or so. As the fight progressed, Joyce was throwing more punches, but didn't necessarily land more punches. Meanwhile, Jennings was able to land clean punches throughout most of the fight, but didn't significantly hurt Joyce in the same way he did in the opening round.
Still, most rounds were close, especially in the second half of the fight. Joyce had perhaps his best effort in the start of the 10th round when he started breaking down Jennings with a series of big shots upstairs. Jennigs was able to overcome that obstacle, but found another one when he got deducted a point for a low blow, effectively ending his chances of winning by decision.
Joyce improves his pro record to 10-0 and continues his progression towards a potential world title opportunity. The 33-year-old Joyce has already picked up three wins this year, all against either former world champions or former title challengers. After the fight, Joyce called out yet another current titleholder, this time being WBA "Regular" heavyweight champion Manuel Charr.