Joe Joyce to face Alexander Ustinov on May 18th

Joe Joyce won’t be sitting around ahead of his planned July bout with Daniel Dubois, facing Russian veteran Alexander Ustinov on May 18th as part of the Billy Joe Saunders-Shefat Isufi undercard. The fight will be Joyce’s first since signing with Frank Warren.

Ustinov (34-3, 25 KO) is a profoundly large man, standing 6’7” and regularly weighing in around 280 pounds, but really doesn’t have a lot going for him outside of that. He’s coming off of consecutive losses to Mahmoud Charr and Michael Hunter, the latter of whom knocked Ustinov out in nine rounds despite giving up nearly 70 pounds.

Joyce (8-0, 8 KO) is at least honest about this being a stay-busy fight, acknowledging that he didn’t want to fight a journeyman. He describes Ustinov as “big, awkward, and...can punch,” which is technically correct. “The Juggernaut” should still dispose of him with about the same effort it took to beat down Bermane Stiverne in February.

Despite being just over two weeks away, the majority of the fighters on the card still do not have opponents, as per BoxRec.