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David Oliver Joyce has warning for Baluta ahead of Saturday showdown

Davey Oliver Joyce [12(9)-1(1)] has warned Ionut Baluta [113(2)-2(0)] that he’ll be taken out of his comfort zone during their showdown on Saturday.

Joyce defends his WBO European super-bantamweight ranking title against Baluta on the undercard of Josh Taylor’s world title defence against Apinun Khongsong – live on BT Sport and ESPN+.

Baluta heads into the fight on the back of his huge win over TJ Doheny earlier this year and could prove a potential banana skin.

However, ‘The Punisher’ doesn’t cup a worried figure and is adamant he’s seen plenty of exploitable weaknesses in the Romanian.

“I’ll be setting a higher pace against him and taking him out of his comfort zone. He doesn’t like getting attacked to the body and I’ll exploit that.

“I’m used to fighting in empty arenas as I’ve been boxing as an amateur all my life. You do that in some different parts of the world for Ireland with nobody cheering you on.

“Winning this fight will bring me one step closer to a world title. I have a great team with me in MTK Global and I have complete faith in them.”

The Romanian is coming in confident mood and told Irish-boxing.com:

“He is a very good experienced athlete, but he has to prepare very well before going into the ring with me because I will come with a surprise with new weapons.

“I’m going to make a bigger and more spectacular match than I did against TJ . I see a beautiful future in my career as a boxer.”

Jonny Stapleton

Irish-boxing.com contributor for 15 years and editor for the past decade. Have been covering boxing for over 16 years and writing about sports for a living for over 20 years. Former Assistant Sports editor for the Gazette News Paper Group and former Tallaght Voice Sports Editor. Have had work published in publications around the world when working as a freelance journalist. Also co-founder of Junior Sports Media and Leinster Rugby PRO of the Year winner. email: editoririshboxing@gmail.com

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