Comments Thread For: Joyce: I'll Go Back To The Drawing Board and Have To Improve, I Still Think I Can Beat Zhang

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

Olympic silver medalist Joe Joyce still believes that he can topple China's Zhilei Zhang in a rematch. Last Saturday night, at the Copper Box in London, Zhang stopped Joyce in six rounds. The first defeat of Joyce's career saw the British boxer get tagged with hard left hands that eventually closed up his right eye - which eventually led to a ringside doctor advising the referee to stop the fight.
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[richardt]

I don't see an old fighter like him improving. He may try some things but when that is not working, he'll revert back. He just has to go with what got him this far with just a little head movement, if that is even possible.

[mjh1969]

Joyce is going to beat up Zhang's hands with his face. Hopefully he can learn a little head movement and block punches with his gloves and not his face.

[joe strong]

If Joyce is going to take an interim fight he should fight a southpaw like Wallin or Charles Martin. I would say Ortiz but Ortiz can’t take a punch anymore. Wallin is the freshest of the 3 I mentioned. He beats Wallin then get that rematch at years end. The WBO mando is not due until sometime in 2024. He could always go right into the rematch as well.

[thack]

Joyce is effective when he can back up and bully his opponents taking their best shots without showing effect , he couldn't do either with Zhang.It's a big ask that at this late stage he'd do any better , lack of head movement and a complete inability to understand and deal with the southpaw stance left him looking for a mountain to climb.I don't buy that he'd have fought his way back in had the eye not closed , I think it may of saved him from a KO . I respect Warren/Joyce for taking this fight , boxing needs these kinds of challenges .

[El_Feroz99]

I'm no boxing expert, but I can't imagine getting tagged with the left hand like that is a fixable thing for an immediate rematch.

if he takes another fight one would imagine that voids the Zhang rematch clause, but he should go in another direction for now imho

[El_Feroz99]

Joyce is effective when he can back up and bully his opponents taking their best shots without showing effect , he couldn't do either with Zhang.It's a big ask that at this late stage he'd do any better , lack of head movement and a complete inability to understand and deal with the southpaw stance left him looking for a mountain to climb.I don't buy that he'd have fought his way back in had the eye not closed , I think it may of saved him from a KO . I respect Warren/Joyce for taking this fight , boxing needs these kinds of challenges .

Yes, this was a fun throwback type fight for me. Like when 90s HWs used to fight each other for title shots.

It's just not the same now...these guys fight maybe 1 challenge on top of 25 overmatched guys and get a shot. No incentive to fight each other when you can move up the rankings fighting chisora types one after the other.

[Boricua181]

Maybe if Joyce watches the video of his fight with Zhang a few times. It'll dawn on him that he would have to improve on his hand speed, and head movement.
If he can't improve on those two aspect's of his of his boxing skill's, he has nothing to look forward to in a rematch against Zhang.
Except for another stoppage due to the swelling produced by the accumulation of of Zhang's punches connecting on his stationary head.
I don't think that Joyce can improve enough on both of those aspect's of his fighting style to have a different outcome than the TKO he suffered the first time around.

[JakeTheBoxer]

Protect your face next time than, lol.

[slimPickings]

Joyce is no spring chicken. Go for broke . Take the rematch. Learn to stop keep getting hit with the SAME punch over and over then you can have a shot at getting past the 6th when Zhang starts huffing and puffing. A rematch will generate more interest and more $$$$. Take the fight and dont go messing with a "tune up" and end up losing again.