DOJ targets 2020 world title shot after victory over former world champ Haskins
Davey Oliver Joyce set himself on the comeback trail with a fifth-round stoppage against former world champion Lee Haskins in a cracking contest at the Ulster Hall.
DOJ secured the win after the Bristol fighter had to pull out with a leg injury in round five, but was happy with how he performed in a high octane start to proceedings.
The Olympian claims he felt the benefits of his move down to super bantamweight and believes he is stronger down at 126lbs.
The Pete Taylor trained fighter spoke to Irish-boxing.com just after his first fight since his stoppage loss to Leigh Wood in the lucrative MTK Golden Contract tournament: “Just getting back into the ring after my first loss against Leigh Wood, he is an amazing opponent and I have to give him credit but tonight at a new weight again back down at super bantamweight I felt really strong and really comfortable and his is the weight I feel I can use my strength at the most.”
Nine stoppage wins in just 12 fights suggests ‘The Punisher’ possesses power, but he claims he is only truly punching now he has dropped down the scales.
“The power is something that I lacked at featherweight against the guys that were weighing in and then rehydrating to a huge weight.”
“I just didn’t have that strength at featherweight but now I’m getting a chance to use it and my camp was so physical and so technical under Pete Taylor, we have got quality sparring in the gym”
MASSIVE RESPECT ❤️
— MTK Global 🌍 (@MTKGlobal) February 1, 2020
The victorious @daveyoliver101 consoles @LeeHaskins118 after their superb fight.
Fantastic sportsmanship from these two warriors. 🥊
The #MTKFightNight action continues LIVE on @ESPN+ and @IFLTV ➡️ https://t.co/JgkGUXHoBP#TeamMTKGlobal pic.twitter.com/3tsSVenQap
Joyce once against holds the WBO European ranking title – albeit at a different weight-and was delighted to regain a career enhancing strap.
“This is something that I have wanted for the last nine or ten weeks and I worked really hard in every session and I have pushed myself and thankfully today it all came together for me”
Joyce’s coach Pete Taylor was the subject of praise from the Mullingar man “Pete is an incredible coach and he doesn’t get the praise he deserves and he doesn’t look for it, and he doesn’t look for credit but you have got to give it to him and the stable we have in the gym at the moment is like our own little high-performance gym. We have got quality sparring, quality sessions happening and a quality coach putting all of our sessions together,” he adds before revealing his immediate plans.
“I’m now going to take some time off and spend some time with the family and let me team decide what’s next for me, but I would love to be out at least a couple of times during the year.
“There are some massive shows coming up and this will be a massive year for me, this is only the start for me and I’m really excited”
“I hopefully want to challenge for a world title maybe at the end of this year, the start of the net year, but right now I’m enjoying my European title and going to enjoy this time off with my family because that’s the most important thing to me”
