Joe Joyce responds to trainer failing Covid-19 test before Daniel Dubois fight

Joe Joyce will rely on video calls to devise a game plan to beat Daniel Dubois after his trainer tested positive for Covid-19.

Renowned coach Ismael Salas failed a coronavirus test just three days before his charge’s toughest test to date.

He was led out of the secure bubble and will not be in Joyce’s corner on Saturday night.

Joyce had not worked with Salas for a month after the Cuban flew to Las Vegas to train his other fighters.

The pair were kept apart this week which means the heavyweight clash will go ahead with Joyce receiving updates via FaceTime.

“Ismael is going to send me some hints and tips to help me,” he said.

“I am not in unfamiliar territory. I believe in my ability and I believe I am going to win the fight.

“It is a shame but this is a massive fight the show must go on and I believe that I still have the team and experience to lead me to victory.

“It would have been much better to have Ismael in the corner between breaks but I am confident in my team and the addition of Jimmy Tibbs, who has been in a lot high-profile camps.

“I would have rather Ismael would have stayed with me, he gave me some solid fundamentals, the three weeks or month we did have together were key.

“He has loads of fighters in Las Vegas and two of them are fighting very soon but I did hope that he would have had me as a priority for such a big fight and we did tell him that.”

Dubois, meanwhile, insists he is ready to put on a show and secure himself a world title shot.

Victory over Joyce should propel the 23-year-old into a clash with Oleksandr Usyk next year.

And he said: “I want to win in devastating fashion – a clear message to the rest of the fighters in the division and all around the world that I am coming.”