Joe Joyce picked up Saturday where he left off a year ago.
Joyce, the British heavyweight contender, put journeyman Michael Wallisch down three times and stopped him 57 seconds into the third round of a scheduled 10-rounder at the BT Sport Studio in London.
Wallisch (20-4, 13 KOs) went down once in the second and twice in the third, prompting referee Ian John Lewis to stop what quickly became a one-sided fight.
Joyce (11-0, 10 KOs) was coming off a successful year in 2019, when he beat in succession Bermane Stiverne, Alexander Ustinov and Bryant Jennings. The Jennings fight took place last July.
The 34-year-old Londoner now appears set to face countryman and fellow contender Daniel Dubois, assuming Dubois gets past Erik Pfeifer on Aug. 29 in the BT Sport Studio.
Joyce and Dubois were scheduled to meet in April but the fight was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The new date reportedly is Oct. 24 at 02 Arena in London.
Wallisch, a German, was not expected to provide much resistance against Joyce. He’s now 1-4 in his last five fights, with all four setbacks coming by knockout.