Joyce: Winning in Doha would take the pressure off
BySportsbeat
Published 06/10/2015 at 13:37 GMT
Joe Joyce knows the equation is simple at the current World Amateur Boxing Championships in Doha – come away with gold and he qualifies for Rio 2016.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
Joyce missed out on the chance to qualify through the World Series of Boxing earlier this year when he failed to top the rankings in the super heavyweight category.
There were still a number of impressive performances from the 30-year-old though who beat Cuban Lenier Pero on his own patch back in February.
And while there will be other opportunities to qualify regardless of the outcome in Doha, Joyce would love nothing better to get things tied up now.
The amateur boxer has always had a burning desire to appear at an Olympic Games, originally trying his luck at athletics before taking up boxing at the end of his second year at university.
And Joyce insists he holds no fear about whoever he comes up against in Qatar.
"There was so much more to boxing than anything else I'd done," Joyce told BBC Sport.
"I could skip, run, lift weights, hit the pads, spar. Boxing was just more fun. And my dream had always been to get to the Olympics.
"I had tried and failed with athletics but boxing gave me renewed belief that I would get there eventually.
"I'm not scared but winning in Doha would definitely take the pressure off. There's no Russian, I've beaten the Cuban Lenier Pero and the Croatian Filip Hrgovic, who has already qualified for Rio.
"I haven't fought Majidov Magomedrasul, [Azerbaijan's two-time world champion] but maybe I will this time. Whoever I fight, I just have to beat them."
© Sportsbeat 2015
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement