Joyce gives German two standing counts to take gold
The 18-year-old Athy man was in devastating form against an elusive opponent who used every inch of the ring in an effort to escape his ferocious combinations.
Joyce stalked him, hunted him down and punished him with five punch combinations from the very outset.
Still Makarov used the perimeter - not once was there a punch thrown in the centre of the ring - but in the end there was no escape. He caught Joyce with a good straight left hand at the end of the first round but already the Irishman was in control and led 9-6.
It was just a taste of what was to come as Joyce went out in pursuit of his opponent in the second.
The German landed some good shots but they lacked power and Joyce went into the top drawer to pull out the combinations again.
He pinned his man in the neutral corner, pounded him, and when he turned him on to the ropes he caught him with another text book combination of left and right hand punches to the head and body. The referee had no option but to give Makarov a standing count and Joyce led 20-10 at the end of the round.
He was quick in pursuit at the start of the third, twice pinning his man on the ropes with a variety of punches, and when the referee gave the German another standing count his corner threw in the towel.
It has been a great start to the new season for Joyce, who won four national titles last season. He had a big performance against a very good Russian in the first round, was very impressive against a strong Welshman in the semi-finals and last night's performance was all he could hope for.
His cousin, John Joe Joyce, will follow a similar fight plan after his performance last night when he too stopped a German opponent, Eugen Burhardt, to win the lightweight title and add gold to the bronze medal he won at the European Junior Championships in Tallinn in July.
This was one of the best performances from the 18-year-old and he fashioned it around a powerful right hand to the body that caught Burhardt repeatedly, wore him down and put the contest way out of his reach going into the third round.
Joyce, more precise and economical with his punches, led 12-3 at the end of the first round and 24-8 after the third with the writing very much on the wall.
"I had two hard fights early on so I did not want to go all out in the first round," he said. "I kept using the right hand to the body and I knew that was getting to him. I caught him with some big shots and it was the single shots to the body that did the damage in the end."
Joyce has won two national junior titles plus two more at U21 level and he might have had a senior title under his belt were it not for the fact that he picked up a chest infection at a multi-nations tournament in Russia prior to the championships last season and had to pull out of the competition after winning his first fight.
"I would hope to win the title next year and I will be aiming for that," he said.
Aodh Carlyle was stopped on the 20pt rule midway through the third round of his light welterweight contest against Gennady Kovalev of Russia as the Russians, with eight finalists to five for Ireland, four for Germany, four for Wales and one for Scotland, dominated the tournament.
Flyweight Carl Frampton claimed Ireland's first gold when he stopped Welshman Chris Jenkins on the 20pts rule seconds into the third round.
Frampton used a busy left hook to build up a 12-3 lead in the first round. The second round saw him bring his left cross into action and he caught Jenkins several times to the had and body. Jenkins did well to survive but he was 19 points down going into the third round.
Two good shots in the opening seconds were good enough to attract the attention of the judges and the referee was left with no option under the 20 point rule.
The true merit of Jimmy Moore's effort in Thursday's semi-final was highlighted in the opening light flyweight contest which ended just a few seconds into the second round when David Ayrapetyan of Russia stopped Keith Spong of Wales on the 20-pt rule.
The Russian is a former world junior champion who also won a European junior champion and came to Ireland with just two defeats on his card.
On Thursday night Moore, from the St Francis Club in Limerick, turned in a good first round and took the Russian into the third round before being stopped on the 20pt rule.
But last night it was obvious from the very first punch that the final would not go far and an 11-4 first -round lead was stretched dramatically in the opening seconds of the second to force a quick ending.
