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“He actually fights at a higher pace than Gutierrez” – Frampton well-prepared by Joyce sparring

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Mullingar lightweight David Oliver Joyce [1(1)-0] spent time in London last week sparring with former foe and two-weight world champ Carl Frampton.

However, it wasn’t just a case of ‘The Jackal’ doing a favour for his good friend. Instead novice pro Joyce played an important role due to his similar style to Frampton’s upcoming homecoming fight.

Belfast’s Frampton [23(14)-1(0)] identified the Rio Olympian as fighter with a comparable approach to Mexican warrior Andres Gutierrez [35(25)-1(0)-1], whom he faces at the SSE Odyssey Arena on Saturday July 29th, live on Channel 5,

Writing in his weekly column for the Sunday Life, Frampton explained how “my old mate David Oliver Joyce has been over sparring me for my fight on July 29 at the SSE Arena against Andres Gutierrez and it has gone very well.”

“I suggested to my coach Shane McGuigan about bringing over David Oliver for some sparring because he has a similar style to Gutierrez who just comes forward non-stop.”

“He actually fights at a higher pace than Gutierrez so that was good for me to have that kind of intensity in sparring.”

“He’s also got a fight coming up very soon [Saturday July 22nd in London] so it worked well for him too.”

It is, of course, not the first time the pair have traded leather, and Frampton outlined how “David Oliver and I had a good rivalry as amateurs and every time we fought it was very close – in the end he had the edge with three wins to one.”

“We’ve been friends for some time and did some sparring early in my career when he was still an amateur because he always had a style that was more suited to the pro game. ”

Frampton believes that, despite turning pro at the advanced age of 30, Joyce can have success in the paid ranks.

The Tigers Bay star noted that “I thought he would have turned over a few years ago but he always had the dream of boxing at the Olympics and that came true last year. So, now he can move quickly up the rankings as a pro.”

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Joe O'Neill

Reporting on Irish boxing the past five years. Work has appeared on irish-boxing.com, Boxing News, the42.ie, and local and national media. Provide live ringside updates, occasional interviews, and special features on the future of Irish boxing. email: joneill6@tcd.ie

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