Joyi, who has fought his entire career in South Africa, made his professional debut on 28 April 2002 in Queenstown.
Joyi won his first minor championship on 24 April 2004, beating Mzikayse Foslare to win the South African minimumweight title.
[2] The first major fight of his career came on 26 June 2009 in East London, where he fought the Filipino boxer Florante Condes in an IBF Minimumweight title eliminator.
Joyi appeared to be in full control of the bout until the third round, when an accidental clash of heads opened a deep cut along Takayama's hairline.
In Joyi's first fight outside of South Africa, he suffered an upset knockout loss at the hands of local fighter Mario Rodriguez (14–6–4) in Sinaloa, Mexico on 1 September 2012.