Joe Joyce is soon to return to the ring after a difficult 2023 but before that he has been backing up comments made by Hall of Famer Lennox Lewis about Anthony Joshua’s upcoming fight with Francis Ngannou.

Lewis is a keen onlooker who always has plenty to say about the career of Joshua. Right now he is on the cusp of losing his honour of being the last undisputed heavyweight champion as a new one will be named when Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk meet next month.

It is maybe with that in mind that he has spoken out about what he sees as ‘spectacle’ fights that have defined the heavyweight division in the last few months. The first was Fury versus Ngannou in a year in which Fury failed to defend his WBC title.

The second is coming up on March 8 when Joshua faces the same man out in Saudi Arabia in a non-title contest over 10 rounds.

Speaking to Seconds Out, Joyce was asked about Lewis saying the winner of Joseph Parker versus Zhilei Zhang is more deserving of a shot at the winner of the undisputed fight than the winner of Joshua versus Ngannou

Having sparred both, he was then asked about the Joshua and Ngannou fight.

Next up for Joyce is a return following back-to-back losses to Zhang. He takes on Kash Ali on March 16 in Birmingham.