Boxing, for Joe Joyce, isn't just his profession. It's also, he says, a way of life. It affects how he eats, how he trains and how views the world. It's the kind of philosophy you expect when you speak to a world-class heavyweight.

Although a proficient painter – Joyce did a foundation course at Camberwell and then a BA at Middlesex – there's no plans for him to swap the ring for the gallery any time soon. "Wladimir Klitschko is coming back. I think he’s like 40, 41, so yeah it can keep going on," he said. "I’m 33 so I guess another five years, but you never know. If I’m still in good shape and fights are out there and money to be made I’ll continue."

Joyce, who started as an Olympian and clinched silver in Rio in 2016, has moved into the professional world and now spends his days training in the mountains of Big Bear near LA. He trains at altitude at a ski resort, which helps to make him all the better in bouts at sea level. We wanted to know more so asked him to guide us through a week in the life.

Monday

As long as it’s not snowing – I have to run then, because I can’t cycle – I cycle almost seven miles up and downhill and then later on today I’ll have sparring. I’ll get in the gym for 3.30pm and start warming up, skipping, stuff like that, and do some abs and shadow boxing. Abel [Sanchez, his trainer] said I’ve got 12 rounds to do today.

A round is normally three minutes. It’s sparring your opponent. Basically you’re practising fighting, you’re working on your attack, your defence, thinking about things that you need to improve. If Abel has given us some tactics we have to work towards, we’re just improving and sparring while not getting hit and hitting your sparring partner.

I’ve started to do a bit of intermittent fasting, so I won’t be eating until one or two o'clock. I’ll have a green shake and a bit of carbs and a lot of protein. Then obviously after sparring, around kinda 7 or 7.30pm I’ll have a full meal with a lot of veg and protein. I tend not to have any carbs. I’ll normally have them for breakfast or for lunch. Carbs give you energy, but if you’re eating a surplus it’s going to be stored as fats. You don’t want to be carrying that extra weight. You want to stay quite lean: the leaner you are, the more agile you can be.

Tuesday

On Tuesday, I’ll be running. There’ll be sprints, so long as it doesn’t snow overnight. Then there’ll be strength and conditioning at 3.30pm, boxing training, hitting the bags, shadow boxing, bit of weight training and conditioning.

We're about two hours from LA, up in the mountains. It’s like a ski resort. In the winter it gets really busy with skiers and snowboarders, but in the summer it’s sunny all year round, the air’s really clean and the air smells of pine so it’s ideal. It’s also very secluded and there’s not much going on, so zero distractions. I’ve been training here since August.

When you fight, you’ll be back down at sea level, so you’ll have a ton more red blood cells, which means you won’t get tired between rounds. It means you’re fresh and your mind is switched on and you can read situations and capitalise on any openings.

Wednesday

Wednesday will be the same as Monday: I cycle Monday, Wednesday and Friday and run on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Thursday

After training, normally I’ve just got my feet up, playing Playstation, watching Youtube videos, maybe even Netflix. I’m playing Destiny 2. I’m a bit of an addict for that game, but there’s plenty of new ones coming out. I’ve been watching The Walking Dead. I started watching it when it came out, with my little brother. We watched it together, but then the next time I spoke to him he’d watched three or four series. Sam, my manager, is watching it, so he got me back into it.

Friday

Normally fights are on Friday or Saturday, sometimes Sunday. I’m not always sure what day I’m flying back, but as long as it gives me a day to readjust and get over jet lag before the fight.

The week before the fight you’re just kinda ticking over, warming up, stretching, preparing your body for the fight night. So you’re not doing too much, just resting, a lot of downtime, so your body has recovered fully. You almost want to train, you want to do more, but that’s when you have to stop. Being a heavyweight you don’t have to make weight and keep skipping and dieting and not drinking much, eating much, making sure you keep an eye on your weight. I’ve got it quite nice not having to worry about all that, especially on the plane coming back. I can eat normally and just drink. Obviously nonalcoholic drinks. If you’re a lightweight you can’t even eat on a plane.

The red blood cells are changed for two weeks, but then they’re back to normal. After a week you still get the benefit of training at altitude.

Saturday

When I’m not training, I tend to go down to LA, which is at sea level, so it’s pretty good to rest at sea level. You get enough oxygen and can recover properly.

A run in the morning. Then I’d drive down to LA. When it was a lot warmer, I’d be going down the beach and just relaxing.

Either on the Saturday or the Sunday, I’d have a little bit of a cheat day, perhaps eat a burger or some cookies. I like eating in LA. What’s really good is the ramen. It’s healthy, healthy enough, but, yeah, cookies are not as healthy. Or, like, I went to watch a boxing match in Vegas and we went to Fatburger, which is, like... I had like a Triple XL burger, which can’t be too good for you. But plenty of protein.

Sunday

I’ll just be chilling out, driving back from LA. It’s quite a fun drive round the mountain, there’s plenty of turns, there’s really good views over the city.

Joe Joyce faces Bermane Stiverne at the O2 on 23 February. You can watch the fight on ITV Box Office. Tickets available from AXS and Inner Ringside/VIP Hospitality from sportandmusic.co.uk.

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