Zhilei Zhang defeated Joe Joyce for the second time via a third-round knockout on Saturday night and has retained his WBO ‘interim’ belt- potentially lining up a title shot in the near future.
Joyce was once again dominated for the brief duration of the fight and after a vicious beatdown similar to their last bout, Zhang landed a pelting right hook to flatten the Briton again.
The Chinese heavyweight vowed to “end” Joyce’s career during the build-up to the fight but despite another devastating loss, the Putney man is determined to come back stronger.
He spoke after the fight and said he needed to “take some time off” and “reflect on what went wrong.” It’s almost a carbon copy situation that Joyce found himself in the aftermath of the first fight with Zhang in April when his valiant display was halted due to a doctor’s stoppage.
There were no positives to take away this time and once Zhang found his range, the same fate befell to Joyce who simply could not react to the slow, calculated approach that Zhang strives in.
When Joyce was asked about the idea of retiring, the 38-year-old replied without hesitation: “No chance”, he asserted.
He claimed that this new setback is “not the end of the world” and that he is capable of recovering from this and returning to the ring once again.
It was only six months ago that Joyce was being tipped as the next world champion when he was faced with the surprise package of Zhang- who had also been tipped to retire but now may have other ideas.
He confidently spoke after the fight and teased the prospect of him ‘shutting up’ Tyson Fury next- should the fans wish to see it. Once Fury has fought Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia, that matchup is an intriguing prospect and win or lose- Zhang will be able to walk away from the sport with some fine accolades and a hefty purse.
For Joyce, the question remains as to where he goes from here.
Turning pro at 32 having won silver at the 2016 Olympics had Joyce veering onto a road towards a world title, and if you look at his resume of wins it’ll show victories over Daniel Dubois, Joesph Parker, Carlos Takam and a KO triumph over former world champion Bermane Stiverne on his debut.
But these two losses to Zhang have left his ability in doubt. In hindsight, maybe Joyce should have gone for a few more fights as part of a learning curve given his late introduction into the professional scene. The glaring contrast between him and Zhang- who is 40- was just too vivid across the two fights.
Credit must be given to Joyce for taking this challenge head-on and for signing to a rematch so soon after his first defeat, but it may have shattered the high ambitions he had not so long ago.
