Shaun George is certain Zhilei Zhang would do more than enough to convincingly beat Joe Joyce if their 12-round rematch goes the distance Saturday night in London.
Zhang’s trainer has nevertheless urged the Chinese southpaw to do everything in his power to stop Joyce inside the distance again. George doesn’t think that Zhang will be treated fairly on the scorecards in Joyce’s hometown if their second bout lasts all 12 rounds.
“Me, personally, I still don’t trust the judging and I still don’t trust the referee,” George told BoxingScene.com. “I have an issue with it because the last time one of the judges had Zhilei losing the fight and two others only had him winning by one round, by one point. To me, our only option here is for Zhilei to win by knockout. So, every single round we’re gonna be looking for a knockout. Be it early or late, we’re looking for a knockout coming into this fight.”
British judge Phil Edwards had Joyce ahead of Zhang by one point, 48-47, entering the sixth round of their April 15 bout at Copper Box Arena in London. The two American judges assigned to their first fight – Wisconsin’s Mike Fitzgerald and Florida’s Efrain Lebron – both gave Zhang a one-point advantage, 48-47, following five rounds of action.
British referee Howard Foster stopped their scheduled 12-round bout at 1:23 of the sixth round due to severe swelling around Joyce’s right eye. A British Boxing Board of Control physician recommended that Foster call an end to their bout because he felt Joyce couldn’t see out of his right eye.
A Chinese judge, Mark Leong, has been assigned to score their rematch for Zhang’s WBO interim heavyweight title. Leong will be joined at ringside by South African judge Deon Dwarte and English judge Marcus McDonnell.
Veteran British referee Steve Gray has been assigned to Zhang-Joyce II as well.
George reiterated that it would be best for Zhang to not leave his fate to the judges while fighting in proverbial enemy territory.
“I don’t think we have any other choice but to knock Joe Joyce out, because I don’t think it’s gonna be fair,” said George, a retired light heavyweight contender. “Frank Warren said it himself, that he wants everything in Joe Joyce’s favor. He said it in the first press conference to announce the fight.”
Zhang (25-1-1, 20 KOs) has knocked out 77 percent of his opponents since the 2008 Olympic silver medalist turned pro in August 2014. The only two opponents Joyce (15-1, 14 KOs) hasn’t knocked out are Zhang and retired American contender Bryant Jennings (24-4, 14 KOs), who lost a 12-round unanimous decision to Joyce in July 2019 at O2 Arena in London.
Zhang, 40, and Joyce, 38, will headline a multi-bout broadcast on TNT Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland (7 p.m. BST). ESPN+ will stream the rematch between Zhang and Joyce as the main event of a doubleheader set to begin at 5 p.m. EDT in the United States.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.