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Joe Joyce vs. Zhilei Zhang

Date	15 April 2023
Venue	Copper Box Arena, Hackney Wick, London, UK
Title(s) on the line	WBO interim heavyweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Joe Joyce Zhilei Zhang Nickname "Juggernaut" "Big Bang" Hometown London, England UK Zhoukou, Henan, China Pre-fight record 15–0 (14 KOs) 24–1–1 (19 KOs) Age 37 years, 6 months 39 years, 11 months Height 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) Weight 255.7 lb (116 kg) 271.6 lb (123 kg) Style Orthodox Southpaw Recognition WBO Interim Heavyweight Champion TBRB No. 2 Ranked Heavyweight The Ring No. 4 Ranked Heavyweight WBO No. 13 Ranked Heavyweight
Result
Zhang wins via 6th-round TKO

Joe Joyce vs. Zhilei Zhang was a professional boxing match contested on for the WBO interim heavyweight title.

Background

Joe Joyce won the WBO Interim World Heavyweight title in a September 2022 bout against Joseph Parker. Zhang's last bout before facing Joyce was in August 2022 when he suffered his first loss to Croatian Filip Hrgović, after a close-fought battle where he lost by unanimous decision in what was described as a "generous" decision by broadcaster Sky Sports after a "bizarre" performance by Hrgović.

In December 2022, Joyce told Sky Sports that he planned to stay busy, next scheduling a fight for March 2023. No opponents were announced. There was still ongoing negotiations between Fury and Usyk. Fury previously stated, had talks broken down again, he would fight Joyce in the interim. Joyce also spoke about how he did not want to become inactive and wait for a title shot, like other contenders do. Instead, to stay active and improve himself in the ring. It was reported on 20 January 2023, 39 year old Chinese contender Zhilei was to challenge Joyce for the interim WBO title at on 15 April in London. No details had been finalised at this stage. Zhang was coming off a close decision loss to fellow contender Filip Hrgović, after dropping him in the opening round in August 2022.

When asked, Joyce said he would prefer to fight Fury over Usyk, but was not righting off Usyk. On 2 February, Queensberry Promotions announced Joyce would defend his WBO Interim heavyweight title at the Copper Box Arena in London against Zhang on 15 April. The fight would take place on regular BT Sport. Frank Warren explained, whilst they wanted to keep Joyce busy before an inevitable world title fight, he would still take on tough challenges. One of the reasons for fighting Zhang was due to him being southpaw, which would help prepare for a future showdown with Usyk. There was a lot of positive response for the fight and many saw it as a 50-50. Many also believed Zhang should have got the decision against Hrgović. Joyce spoke about his frustration at how Dubois got himself into a mandatory position and a world title fight before him. He also mentioned Hrgović being in a better position than him, but stated it was out of his control and all he could do was continue and win fights.

Prior to the fight taking place, Zhang warned, “Joe Joyce has good punch resistance but he has never felt Chinese power.” This was in reference to Joyce seemingly walking through previous opponents punches. Zhang's trainer Shaun George said they were going into the fight to avoid 'old-fashioned boxing politics', and look for a stoppage. For the fight, two American judges, Mike Fitzgerald and Efrain Lebron, and one English judge, Phil Edwards were chosen by the BBBofC. British referee Howard Foster was chosen as the third man in the ring. George also voiced concern about the referee decision, as Foster had often been criticized for stopping fights early. Joyce stepped on the scales at 256 pounds, his lowest in four years. Zhang was a pound heavier than his previous fight, weighing in at 278 pounds.

The fight

In a surprise upset, Joyce lost the fight via TKO in round six, marking the first loss of his professional career. The repeated heavy shots from Zhang caused swelling above Joyce's right eye, causing the referee to wave off the fight. The time of stoppage was 1:34 of the round. In round 1, Zhang took a close round. In the next round, the action picked up. Zhang managed to catch Joyce a few times and ended up drawing blood from his nose. Joyce did his best to fight back towards the end of the round. Round 3 and 4 saw more of the same. Joyce did well to earn round 3 for himself. Zhang came out and landed his power shots to Joyce's chin. Joyce’s right eye began to close rapidly through round 5. Joyce was still able to land his jab clean. The ring doctor checked Joyce's right eye after the round. The fight continued on and in round 6, Zhang piled on the power shots landing a 5-punch combination to Joyce's head. Referee Howard Foster stopped the action to bring in the doctor, who rightly stopped the fight. At the end of the fight, the right eye of Joyce was completely closed. Joyce said it was difficult fighting a southpaw after a long time and he had trouble trying to avoid Zhang's left hand. Joyce was disappointed with his performance but credited Zhang on his win.

Compubox

According to Compubox, although Zhang threw 284 few punches than Joyce, he was much more accurate. Joyce landed 85 of 464 punches thrown (18.3%) and Zhang landed 82 of 180 punches thrown (45.6%). Zhang connected with 78 power shots. According to the broadcast team, one judge had Joyce ahead by one round at the time of stoppage. This was called out by fans on social media.

Aftermath

Following Zhang's victory, reports stated that a bout between himself and Tyson Fury were being discussed. On 29 June an immediate rematch was announced for 23 September at Wembley Arena in London, England for the same title. Tyson Fury took to social media to offer Joyce sparring following the announcement.

Fight card

Source:

^Note 1 For WBO interim heavyweight title
^Note 2 For vacant WBC interim lightweight title
^Note 3 For Commonwealth Boxing Council and WBC International Silver lightweight titles
^Note 4 For British middleweight title

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster
United Kingdom	BT Sport
United States	ESPN+

References

1. ^ "The Juggernaut returns: WBO interim champ Joyce faces Zhang on April 15". BT.com.
2. "'I heat up my opponents...' - Joe Joyce engages in hilariously awkward trash-talk". 3 February 2023.
3. "Filip Hrgovic gets peculiar win and earns shot at Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua winner". talkSPORT. 20 August 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
4. "Usyk vs AJ 2: Filip Hrgovic claims unanimous decision win over Zhilei Zhang in thrilling IBF heavyweight eliminator". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
5. "Joe Joyce Plans To Fight in March, Then Wants Fury or Usyk Showdown". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
6. "Joe Joyce, Zhang Zhilei To Fight April 15 In London For Joyce's WBO Interim Heavyweight Title". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
7. "Joe Joyce 'Ideally' Prefers a Title Fight With Fury Over Usyk". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
8. "Joe Joyce vs. Zhilei Zhang - Official For April 15 at Copper Box Arena". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
9. "Joe Joyce vs Zhilei Zhang confirmed for WBO Interim title - Seconds Out". www.secondsout.com. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
10. Stumberg, Patrick (2 February 2023). "Joe Joyce vs Zhilei Zhang official for April 15th in London". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
11. "Frank Warren: Joe Joyce Will Have Proper Test in Zhang, Fury Could Be Next". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
12. "Joe Joyce: It's Annoying That Dubois, Hrgovic Ahead of Me in World Title Queue". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
13. "Zhang Zhilei Looks Forward To Testing The Chin of Joe Joyce". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
14. "Zhang Zhilei's Trainer: We Have To Knock Joyce Out To Win; We Don't Trust The Politics". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
15. "Video: Joe Joyce weighs a trim 256 pounds, Zhang a hefty 278 for Saturday's fight". Yahoo Sports. 15 April 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
16. "Joe Joyce Comes In 15-Plus Pounds Lighter For Zhang Zhilei Fight Than For Previous Bout". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
17. "Zhilei Zhang Shocks Joe Joyce, Pounds Him For TKO in Sixth Round". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
18. "Joe Joyce: I'm Disappointed With My Performance, I Couldn't Get Away From Left Hand". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
19. Hogwood, Cameron (16 April 2023). "Joe Joyce suffers stunning defeat to Zhilei Zhang in huge blow to world title hopes". Sky Sports. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
20. Pattle, Alex (23 September 2023). "Joyce vs Zhang 2 LIVE: Fight result after devastating knockout tonight". The Independent. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
21. "Zhilei Zhang vs. Joe Joyce - CompuBox Punch Stats". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
22. April 2023, Kerr Ferguson on 16th (16 April 2023). "Joyce-Zhang Scorecard At Time Of Stoppage Branded 'Disgraceful'". boxing-social.com. Retrieved 17 December 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
23. "Tyson Fury could be offered lucrative fight against Zhilei Zhang who is now 'a superstar in China'". Sky Sports. 22 April 2023.
24. "Joe Joyce to rematch Zhilei Zhang on September 23 following first professional defeat". Sky Sports. 29 June 2023.
25. Ferguson, Kerr (30 June 2023). "Tyson Fury Offers Joe Joyce The 'Secret' To Beat Zhang For A Hefty Price". Boxing Social.
26. "Joe Joyce vs Zhilei Zhang: Date, venue, titles, tickets and pro records for boxing showdown". www.sportingnews.com. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
27. "BoxRec - event".

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