The whole reason the J-Man jobs is all the non-canon filler shit.
http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_chapter_listing
Battle City was where he got good at duelling, and the manga went into its climax almost immediately after that.
No virtual world, no capsule monsters, no bullshit.
Just about every duel he has in the series (and just about every loss) was anime-only filler.
Even counting that he had a pretty decent win/loss ratio after Battle City.
http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Joey_Wheeler%27s_Decks
In short. Joey best boy.