Joe Joyce: record, next fight and profile →
Joe Joyce’s promoter commended him for taking what Frank Warren perceives as a more difficult fight Saturday night than the unbeaten Brit needed to embrace while awaiting the title shot he is owed.
Joe Joyce stepped on the scale Friday afternoon at his lowest weight in nearly four years. The chiseled 6-foot-6 heavyweight officially weighed 256 pounds for his fight against huge Chinese contender Zhang Zhilei on Saturday night at Copper Box Arena in London. Joyce weighed in at 271¼ pounds for his last fight, an 11th-round knockout of Joseph Parker 6½ months ago.
by Keith Idec – Shaun George has watched the Filip Hrgovic-Zhang Zhilei fight more times than he can remember. Zhilei’s trainer still can’t understand how three judges scored their 12-round IBF heavyweight elimination match for Hrgovic last August 20 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The previously unbeaten Zhilei scored a knockdown when he landed a right hook during the first round and George knows he had Hrgovic hurt multiple times in the sixth round, when George believes Zhilei could’ve finished off the Croatian contender had he gone to the body.
Joyce, Zhang Final Press Conference Photos Gallery - Undefeated British knockout artist Joe Joyce and former unified junior lightweight champion Mikaela Mayer are set to co-headline an action-packed card this Saturday at Copper Box Arena in London.
Promoter George Warren of Queensberry Promotions, who co-promote WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, has "not heard anything" from Anthony Joshua's camp with respect to making a high-stake showdown in the UK.
Olympic silver medal winner Joe Joyce is expecting unified champion Oleksandr Usyk to dance circles around Daniel Dubois. Dubois is the WBA's mandatory challenger to Usyk, who holds the WBA, IBF, IBO, WBO world heavyweight titles.
by Cliff Rold - The 37-year old 2016 Olympic silver medalist has one task: keep winning until his opportunity arrives. As last Saturday reminded the world, the keep winning part is easier than it looks. Jr. middleweight Sebastian Fundora was in the driver’s seat for an inevitable crack at undisputed world champion Jermell Charlo. Fundora had an interim title to mark his place in line. Fundora won the first six rounds against Brian Mendoza.
The other heavyweight who has beaten Anthony Joshua has emerged as a potential opponent for Tyson Fury. Now that negotiations have ceased between teams for Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, Bob Arum, whose company co-promotes Fury, has informed BoxingScene.com that former heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. is a possible foe for Fury’s return to the ring. England’s Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) is expected to defend his WBC belt sometime this summer, probably in London.
Tyson Fury isn’t the only heavyweight he promotes that Frank Warren would happily match against Anthony Joshua. Warren acknowledged Joyce will encounter a dangerous opponent Saturday night at Copper Box Arena in London. Joyce (15-0, 14 KOs) is scheduled to square off against huge Chinese contender Zhang Zhilei (24-1-1, 19 KOs) in the main event of a card BT Sport 1 will air in the United Kingdom and Ireland and ESPN+ will stream in the United States.
By Manouk Akopyan - Heavyweight contenders Joe Joyce and Zhilei Zhang will square off on April 15 at the Copper Box Arena in London, as Joyce looks to prove himself as a bona fide top-five contender, while Zhang aims to separate himself from the fringe of the top ten.