In the last two years, though, one of Joyce's selling points has become seeing if he can indulge in a spot of pre-fight verbal jousting. But he admits he is really just an old-school fighter who does his talking in the ring, brought up respectfully in the amateur code culminating in an Olympic silver medal in Rio in 2016.        

Joyce was so quiet as a child, his mother Marvel Opara told Telegraph Sport, that she often “didn't know Joby was in the room”.

“He was always so shy. He took up rugby as a child, and I'm sure he would have been one of those quiet guys who runs out onto the rugby field. I'm convinced if he had stuck with rugby, he would have run out at Twickenham for England. I certainly would not have been worried about him being knocked about. 

“I can get a little nervous on fight nights, but I can tell how the fight is going from the people who are around me,” explained Marvel, a Putney resident who has a condition called optic atrophy which means that she is 93 per cent blind, or as the joyful mother of the boxer describes it: “I have seven per cent vision.”    

The big man himself has thought about running out at Twickenham, too. With Marvel's backing, Joyce started karate aged five and took up rugby a year later, going on to play as a teenager for London Scottish and Rosslyn Park. 

“I enjoyed rugby, played in the second row, was pretty athletic, but once I started boxing [at Earlsfield Amateur Boxing Club] I never really looked back. I preferred relying on myself, it all being down to me, than being in a team.”

Joyce turned to the professional ranks aged 32, took on all-comers, but notable victories over Daniel Dubois, Carlos Takam and Joseph Parker have shown him to be a true throwback boxer who wants to fight for the fans. “I want to be an entertainer in the ring, performing for the fans and I always want to put on a show,” he said.

“Fight week I see as the calm before the storm. My fights are always high risk. Why? Because I'm the juggernaut. I'm a tough man, I started in rugby, went through all the sports and I found boxing... 

“I'm nearly there at my goal of being world champion – but the others [Fury, Wilder, Usyk, Joshua] all seem to be running scared or doing their own thing at the moment. Why not fight a good fight, fight everyone and keep the fans entertained?

“I look at it like this... everyone has a plan until they punch me in the face. And nothing happens. Then I go after them...”