Wandsworth boxer Joe Joyce may not have put the golden icing on Team GB’s Rio Olympics, but he know it has been a Games to remember.
The 30-year-old lost out on a split decision to Tony Yoka of Frenchman in the super-heavyweight final on Sunday, bringing the curtain down on Team GB’s Olympics.
However, his silver medal brought the British tally to 67 – the biggest of the modern era and beating London 2012 by two.
The haul included 27 golds, 23 silvers and 17 bronze.
Joyce said: “I thought I took the fight to him. I thought I would be coming back over the moon and people remember a gold medallist a lot more.
“But we have beaten our target, we have beaten London, so in that respect it has been a great Games [for Team GB].”
Many onlookers, including fellow Brit and London 2012 super-heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, thought Joyce had done enough to claim the gold.
Joshua said: “I’m disappointed for Joe. Even from the ABA [Amateur Boxing Association] fights all the way to the Olympic fights, he’s got a winning mentality. You want to win and I definitely feel his pain."
He added: “Joe did nothing wrong, he threw so many punches.
“He worked like a horse, he worked, he worked. I don’t see where he went wrong. He did everything he could.
“Joe won on my scorecard. I looked at the aggressive nature of Joe, the combination punches. The style he’s got is hard to be denied.”
Joyce said: “I was working him to the body, working him to the head. I thought I was penetrating his guard.
“Maybe towards the end of a round he would nick a few shots, but the majority of the work was done by me, working to the head and body.
“I'd prefer to be the Olympic champion. I thought it was close [between them] at the World Championships [in 2015].
“I wasn’t as fit that time and I thought this time I was ready to put more than 100 per cent in, but I didn’t come away with the gold medal.”
He added: “I thought I was landing a lot of shots long range and then I was going in in close and hitting him with shots too. “I thought I won the rounds, I will have to watch it back and that will give me a clearer opinion but I thought I did enough to win the gold medal.”
“I thought I took it to him and I thought I would be coming back over the moon. People remember a gold medallist a lot more. We have beaten our target, we have beaten London, so in that respect it has been a great Games [for Team GB].”
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