THE temperature is in the 40s by the time Joe Joyce emerges through the sliding doors of the Las Vegas house he calls home and parks his considerable frame on a creaking wicker sofa in the back yard. The desert heat is stymied slightly by a glorified gazebo, which provides a few blocks of precious shade if you sit in the correct spot. “The guy who owns the house built this himself,” Joyce says gesturing up to the corrugated iron construction.
“If it wasn’t for this you’d have to spend the whole time in the pool.” Could be worse. But, although this might seem like a good spot for a holiday, it is only ever pure business when Joyce turns up in Nevada. A few hours earlier, he had done the day’s road work up Red Rock Canyon, before the temperature ticked over from warm weather training to just plain old dangerous. Once this interview is finished he is straight over to spar at Ismael Salas’ gym. Between those regular slots on his training schedule, Joyce spends his life between the four walls of the house he shares with his strength and conditioning coach and two managers. Once you are a few miles away from The Strip, you really could be anywhere and the time difference can make a British boxer feel isolated. “Mum is missing me being out here,” he says, only half joking. “She’s phoning me three times a day to check up on me. My dad and my girlfriend are missing me too and it’s tough for me because I have had to miss things like my friend’s wedding.