Joe Joyce is at a crossroads after losing to Zhilei Zhang. Photo: PA/Adam Davy
What's a heavyweight Joe Joyce to do now? The first loss of a career at the hand of China's Zhilei Zhang in what is considered the disappointment of the year, has exposed the sliding doors of the heavyweight division's difficult game of thrones.
Bad luck. to win silver, not gold, in the 2016 Olympic heavyweight final in Rio de Janeiro, Joyce entered his 16th heavyweight bout this weekend with a reputation as a psychic fighter ready to go head-to-head with everyone.
But was his decision worth the 37-year-old to win the world championship? It was the manner of this victory that was most surprising – or perhaps not so in retrospect – given the ease with which the 39-year-old Zhang left-handed the British heavyweight from various angles to the point where he locked out the Brit. #39; with a swelling in his right eye for five rounds for a combination of doctor and referee to brandish the interim WBO heavyweight title to fight back.
In the land of heavyweights, a one-eyed fighter won't last long. Joyce entered this fight with a reputation for having the best chin in boxing, a growing legion of supporters for his integrity, a refreshing absence of bullshit opponents, and the fearlessness to fight anyone. No nonsense about big payouts or selfish wallet divisions. Just good old fights. But Joyce's chin couldn't save his closing right eye, which was spiced up with the initial volleys from the Henan man. Indeed, by the opening seconds of the second round, it could be seen that the fight might not go beyond six rounds for Joyce, and with his timer-like gaze and Zhang using all his experience to direct the fight, it became a futile task. for «Juggernaut».
Zhang hits hard in the second round 🫢#FightNight | #JoyceZhang | 📺 BT Sport 1 pic.twitter.com/nuz7Y6DJZW
— Boxing on BT Sport 🥊 (@BTSportBoxing) April 15, 2023
Instead, it was the Big Bang. Zhang, who set off all the fireworks, and hitting his rhythm, made Joyce look bulky. Indeed, I gave Zhang the first four rounds and the Chinese fighter even missed the fifth round to his opponent as Joyce was desperate to invade. Zhang just moved, covered, caught most of the punches in high defense, while giving a strange, mostly left, rapier response. Then, in the sixth stanza, referee Howard Foster called the ringside doctor a second time to examine Joyce's hematoma, and the official medically confirmed what he saw himself. The fight was off. Zhang and his team celebrated; Joyce shook his head.
A rematch is possible, although Joyce himself doubted after the fight that he could choose to fight between the two. It certainly looks like he can fight again, stylistically, with the left-handed skills of a tall Chinese fighter and his very educated left hand. The pattern of this struggle can simply be played over and over again. Joyce could not respond to the speed of his left hand; and perhaps even though he looked lean, he may have just stepped out of the shadows at 18 lbs 4 lbs (compared to Zhang's 19 lbs 12 lbs).
"I haven't fought a southpaw in a long time, so I need to check the feed" said Joyce, who will be disappointed when he reads it. "But I'll be back. This is not the end of my journey. If I decide to have a rematch with him next time or someday, I will still be back. I'll review the losses and see what can be improved."
But why change the habit of a lifetime? Joyce has lost almost a stone in weight, which is where he has had his biggest successes to date, and his efforts are well worth it to get back to his optimal size and take on Zhang at his own game while avoiding the powerful Chinese left. hand. In the end, a winning rematch could be his only ticket back to the heavyweight championship.
Joyce will have to think long and hard about his next move. At least the good news for Joyce is that he was released from the hospital early Sunday morning with no reports of facial fractures.
Telegraph Sports Analysis So what's next for China's new heavyweight star?
China suddenly has a big player, no question, and a very big one — 20's and 6ft 6in. How good is he really, given how little time he has to waste when he turns 40 next month? Zhang grew at all throughout the week of fighting in London. A gentleman fighter who has shown something of a sense of humor over the course of the week, he is without a doubt a man on a mission to make himself more known to his compatriots of 1.4 billion, leaving a huge market for him. exploit. In the manner in which he exposed Joyce with his left hand, a new legion of followers will emerge who flock to see more.
This was Zhang's first pay-per-view event to be broadcast in the Republic of China, and it had some impact. "I don't have a second or a minute to waste, I have to make it my time" Zhang told me last week.
Minutes after the fight ended in his favor, that determination remained just as noticeable. “I want a world title and I will fight everyone. I showed Chinese power" he told this correspondent.
«I would like to fight Fury in Beijing, but if Joyce wants a rematch in London — or Beijing — I will do that too.» No. 34;
Zhilei Zhang celebrates defeating Joe Joyce and winning the interim WBO heavyweight title. Photo: PA/Adam Davy
In a way, when Zhang looked at Joyce's face with his piercing left hand, he took on the mantle of a man rising in the division — rugged, insightful, and someone who would face anyone — chasing the new. a pot of gold and a potential world title. In a game of power brokering on the heavyweight chessboard, the victory makes him the mandatory contender for the WBO title against Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk, but after slow-burning Zhang, the 2008 Beijing Olympic silver medalist and defeated Anthony Joshua four years later at the Games in London, Zhang arrived at the right market. As his relatively new team, the Lane brothers Terry and Tommy, went out of their way to point out last week, Zhang has something special they saw in him.
«Zhilei can hit and he left-handed,” said Terry Lane. “And I know what everyone is talking about Joe Joyce's granite chin. And I'm a Joe Joyce fan too. I mean, I follow his career and I have a lot of respect for Joe. But he just wasn't there with a puncher like Zhilei. It does some things that are a little more subtle than I think people have appreciated over the years. But I don't think it will last.»
How right Lane was, and if Fury dreams of going to Beijing for a big event and a new market, it will work. Whatever happens, Zhang's victory has made him the new unstoppable force of the moment among the division's driving forces.
Свежие комментарии