Joe Joyce: record, next fight and profile →
Zhilei Zhang respected Joe Joyce prior to their fight Saturday night because Joyce took a risk when he could’ve protected his status as the mandatory challenger for the WBO’s heavyweight title against a lesser opponent.
By Corey Erdman - Clearly, Joe Joyce did not intend for the cruel irony of the themed ring walk he’d planned for his bout against Zhilei Zhang. Joyce, known professionally as The Juggernaut, opted for the imagery of another fictional character, The Terminator in his pre-entrance video and sound. The familiar percussion from the movie theme played as footage of
WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury could potentially return on July 22 at Wembley Stadium in London, according to co-promoter George Warren of Queensberry Promotions.
Olympian Frazer Clarke believes his former Team GB teammate, Joe Joyce, should avoid an immediate rematch with Zhilei Zhang. Joyce suffered his first career defeat on Saturday night at London's Copper Box Arena. He was stopped in six rounds by Zhang, who rocked the British boxer several times in the contest.
Olympic silver medal winner Joe Joyce felt that he could have continued on Saturday night, when the ringside doctor stopped his fight with Zhilei Zhang in the sixth round at the Copper Box in London.
Copper Box Arena, London - Chinese southpaw Zhilei Zhang (25-1-1, 20 KOs) earned the most important victory of his career with a stunning sixth-round TKO over undefeated hometown hero Joe Joyce (15-1, 14 KOs).
On Saturday night at the Copper Box in London, Joe Joyce lost his undefeated record to fellow Olympic silver medal winner Zhilei Zhang. Joyce was stunned several times by Zhang, who started fast in the bout.
In a battle of Olympic silver medal winners, Zhilei Zhang pulled off a shocker on Saturday night at the Copper Box Arena in London, when he stopped undefeated Joe Joyce to capture the WBO's interim-heavyweight title.
Despite throwing 284 fewer punches than Joe Joyce, Zhilei Zhang landed 18 more power punches. Zhang’s accuracy, especially in the power punch category (56%), nullified Joyce’s work rate. Zhang couldn’t miss with his left hand, and eventually, Joyce’s right eye was too compromised for him to continue fighting.
By Declan Taylor - Zhilei Zhang produced one of the best performances from an overseas heavyweight in a British ring for many years to stop Joe Joyce in the sixth round. The Chinese southpaw, who is only a few weeks away from his 40th birthday, boxed beautifully to bust up Joyce so badly that referee Howard Foster had no choice but to wave off the fight after 1:23 of the sixth.