MARTIAL ARTS master Joe Joyce reckons his kung fu schooling will help him give Joseph Parker a belting on Saturday.
The Putney Juggernaut, 37, missed his own graduation and blew his final student loan instalment to fly 8,000 miles and study at a Shaolin monastery in China.
Joyce — who studied fine art at Middlesex University and excelled at rugby and athletics in his youth — faces New Zealand heavyweight Parker in Manchester.
And the winner will be in line for a world-title shot at the WBO crown, currently held by Oleksandr Usyk.
After returning from another Las Vegas training camp, the 14-0 pro — who was robbed of Olympic gold at the 2016 Rio games — told SunSport: “I have always chosen to travel for training, I have never feared that or shied away from it.
“I took myself to China to do Shaolin kung fu just after I graduated. I actually missed the ceremony, so I never threw my hat in the air or wore the gown.
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“I used my last bit of student-loan money to fly out to China and do four sessions a day of kung fu for a month.
“It was a camp of foreigners who each had a trainer — we would run at 5am, then power train and then do technique, sambo or wushu. I had just started boxing around that time, so they complemented each other.”
Joyce shared these incredible photos with SunSport but ruled out any potential big-money MMA switch. He said: “I do think I could do an MMA fight.
“My striking is good enough for a few fights against similar opposition.
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“But I would have to do a lot of wrestling and grappling training. And I don’t really fancy rolling around having some big bloke’s sweaty scrotum stuck on my forehead.”
Computer-game super-fan Joyce is the antithesis of your usual trash-talking flashy fighter. He added: “I like to keep my personal life pretty private. I don’t feel the need to share too much.
“My girlfriend might like the celebrity lifestyle more than me or just the Chanel bags that come with it.
“The more interviews I do the more I improve.
“I get more comfortable and confident and now I have to pull my finger out and do more.”
