Joe Joyce set for Bermane Stiverne test

Joe Joyce will face his most significant professional test when he fights former world heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne on the undercard of James DeGale’s February 23 grudge match with Chris Eubank Jnr.

The 2016 Olympic silver medallist, 33, has won each of his seven fights inside the distance, but in the 40-year-old Stiverne has been matched with an opponent who fought for a world heavyweight title as recently as November 2017.

Stiverne, who lost on that occasion to WBC champion Deontay Wilder, as he also did when losing his title in January 2015, has only one other loss as a professional — in 2007 to the little-known Demetrice King.

“It’s officially on,” Joyce wrote on social media of the fight at London’s 02 Arena, which follows successive victories in America.

“See you in February, London. I’m coming home.”