Joe Joyce next fight REVEALED as heavyweight star joins ‘Magnificent Seven’

Joe Joyce will look to build back towards the elite echelons of boxing’s heavyweight division with a return date and opponent announced for his next fight.

‘The Juggernaut’ was top contender for the WBO heavyweight title held by Oleksandr Usyk after building a 15-0 record to start his professional career (14 of those wins inside distance). His victories included a terrific performance to stop Daniel Dubois in 2020.

His march towards a world title fight though was stopped in its tracks in 2023 as he lost back-to-back fights against Chinese giant Zhilei Zhang. The first was a sixth-round stoppage in April in London, followed by a third-round knockout in September.

Joe Joyce next fight revealed

Now we know when and where Joyce will return to action in his next fight, and who his opponent will be. It is a showdown with former IBF European champion Kash Ali (21-2 with 12 wins inside distance over 10 rounds on Sunday March 16, 2024.

The bill – entitled ‘The Magnificent Seven’ will take place at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England and it will be televised live on TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport).

The bill will be topped by British middleweight champion Nathan Heaney (18-0, 6 KOs), fresh from his stunning victory over Denzel Bentley to claim the title in November. He will make his first defence of his Lonsdale belt, against the English champion Brad Pauls (18-1, 10).

Liam Davies (15-0, 7), the British, WBC International and European champion, will challenge for the IBO world super bantamweight championship when he takes on the holder Erik Robles Ayala (15-1, 9) from Mexico.

In a cracking domestic duel, also at super bantamweight, Commonwealth champion Dennis McCann (14-0-1, 8) faces the also undefeated WBO European champion Brad Strand (11-0, 3) with the vacant WBO Intercontinental title on the line.

Another battle of undefeated talents will take place at welterweight, with Eithan James (12-0) defending his WBO European title, along with battling for the vacant English belt against Owen Cooper (9-0, 3), the Midlands Area champion.

Up at heavyweight, Soloman Dacres (8-0, 2) returns defending his English title with an opponent to be announced shortly. Also on the card is former WBO International super middleweight champion Zach Parker (23-1, 17), who will take on the former WBA world champion Tyron Zeuge (27-1-1, 15).

Frank Warren on Birmingham blockbuster

“The depth and quality of this card is incredible with so many even-money fights,” said promoter Frank Warren. “The Magnificent Seven show in November proved such a hit with boxing fans that doing it again in the city that staged the original promotion back in 2010 made perfect sense. And this one is even better.

“Seven big title fights on one big night is a veritable banquet of boxing for sports fans to feast on and a number of our young stars are really stepping up for the occasion.

“It will be a special night for our Stoke hero Nathan Heaney making a first defence of his British title against the English champion Brad Pauls before, if all goes to plan, we get to fight him at the home of Stoke City at the end of the football season.

“Liam Davies fully merits his shot at a version of the world title at super bantamweight against a strong champion in Erik Robles Ayala, where a win will really put him right in the mix.

“Then we have got four absolute domestic bangers featuring Dennis McCann against Brad Strand, Eithan James against Owen Cooper and Soloman Dacres defending his English title – all with championship belts on the line.

“We will also get to see the return to heavyweight business of Joe Joyce before he hopefully makes himself part of the bigger picture again, plus our super middleweight tank Zach Parker making his move back towards elite competition once more against a top opponent in Tyron Zeuge. 

“If you love boxing, Birmingham is the place to be on March 16.”