How do you beat Anthony Joshua? Joe Joyce believes he holds the blueprint

The blood from Jarrell Miller’s last filthy drug test had barely dried before the professional heavyweight who has spent more time in the ring with Anthony Joshua than any other was written off as a ‘non-credible’ replacement.

Joshua’s former amateur squad mate Joe Joyce has sparred hundreds of rounds with the WBO, WBA and IBF champion of the world and believes he has manufactured a blueprint to beat the golden boy of British boxing as a result of their countless sessions together at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield.

It is why Joyce, four years Joshua’s senior, immediately put his name forward to replace Miller at Madison Square Garden on 1 June after the man known as Big Baby tested positive for a cocktail of performance-enhancing drugs during a series of Vada tests late last month.

But the 33-year-old from leafy west London was quickly dismissed by Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn who said Joyce was not yet credible enough to make his eight-man shortlist of potential replacements for Miller.

“It was a bit of an insult,” admitted 2016 Olympic silver medallist Joyce, who is 8-0 with eight KOs since turning professional. “I’ve got the WBA gold belt, the Commonwealth title. Some of the other names that were mentioned haven’t done what I’ve done. Andy Ruiz Jr for instance, I’ve beaten Joe Hanks and that was Ruiz’s best win to date. I did it in a shorter time too.

“Perhaps, because the fight is in America, Eddie wanted an American opponent but I’ve boxed there before. They were looking for heavyweights so I put my name in the hat.”

But it will not be Joyce’s name on the press release when news of Joshua’s new summer opponent is confirmed by Matchroom later on this week. Ruiz, Trevor Bryan and Michael Hunter are all still understood to be in the running.

As such, Joyce has gone in a different direction all together and signed a deal with BT Sport, with his debut on the channel pegged for May 18 as part of the undercard for Billy Joe Saunders’ showdown with Shefat Isufi at Stevenage Borough’s Lomax Stadium. He hopes, however, that it will serve as the next serious step on the road to Joshua.

“It’s a 50-50 fight between me and Joshua and it’s going to happen sooner or later,” Joyce said. “I’ve taken a lot of confidence from our spars. We’re talking in the hundreds of rounds that we did on GB, maybe more. I’ve learned more since then and I’m sure he has as well so it would be a great fight at some stage.

“I’ve probably done more rounds with him than anyone in the world other than Frazer Clarke. It would be hard for him to come up with any surprises, I know his strengths and weaknesses. I know what I’d have to do – I know how to beat him.

“It’s something I’ve thought about a lot. I think it’s always there in the back of my mind. It was always quite competitive between us on the GB set up. He qualified first and got on the squad first so I felt like I was always playing catch up with him then and I am now again we are pros.”

Even so, Joyce believes he can claim world honours more quickly than Joshua, who was crowned IBF champion when he beat Charles Martin in only his 16th fight.

A circular from the British Boxing Board of Control released this week revealed that terms have been agreed for Joyce to face hot heavyweight prospect Daniel Dubois for the British heavyweight title, in a fight which was warmly received by the boxing community.

However Joyce has now revealed that he may decide against facing the 21-year-old, who he also sparred in Sheffield, in favour of targeting the European belt and then world titles.

“He still is very young and I thought mentally he’s not quite there yet,” said Joyce, who dabbles in oil painting in his spare time. “It’s obviously an interesting fight and everyone thinks I’m going to fight him next.

“But Dubois has much more to gain from our fight than me. If he knocks me out he is suddenly in line for the WBA regular and the European but if I beat him then I have only beaten a kid.

“It’s more of a risk for me. I want to move up and forward, the British is always an option but it is possible that I miss it out, we will see.”

It also remains to be seen when Joyce, who is now working under Adam Booth, will be considered ‘credible’ enough for a crack at one of The Big Three.

“There’s Tyson Fury who is the lineal champion, Deontay Wilder who has the WBC and then Anthony Joshua who has the other three belts,” he added. “I think Joshua is more rounded than the others – Wilder has the power while Fury has the boxing ability and the elusiveness.

“But Joshua has the more robotic, more stand-up, formulaic style. He’s got a more straight-forward style and that might be the easiest to beat.

“I would’ve happily jumped in to fight him on June 1. There are three belts on the line and a decent purse. It’s what I’m in boxing for – to get those opportunities and to fight the very best.

“We had a decent relationship when we trained together. I think he’s a cool guy and I have respect for him but it’s a sport and he has what I want.”