Zhang vs. Joyce 2 Preview
The WBO interim heavyweight title will be on the line Saturday, September 23 in London. Champion Zhilei Zhang will defend the belt in an immediate rematch against former champion Joe Joyce.
The two fighters battled in April where Zhang shocked Joyce in London, outclassing him and winning by sixth round TKO. Joyce ate a barrage of power left hands which eventually closed his right eye altogether forcing the fight to be ended. Zhang proved that even at his age, he has more power, speed, and better defense than Joyce. It will be interesting to see what type of adjustments the former champion will make in the rematch.
Many pundits believed Joyce was next in line to challenge Oleksandr Usyk for the IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO titles. But the luck of the mandatory-challenger- draw forced Joyce to watch Daniel Dubois get the title shot, a fighter he dominated in 2020. Joyce who was then undefeated and coming off a KO victory over former champion Joseph Parker, chose to stay active and accepted the fight with Zhang.
The London native has reflected on what could have been. “It was frustrating that it was the guy I beat convincingly that got the shot before me,” Joyce said. “And it bothers me that I was once the WBA gold [champion] and paid the sanctioning fees, and then I was completely out of that [mix]. That’s a route I could’ve taken, but I did the WBO route and I’m in that position again. But to have to lose to Zhang, when I was so close and I could’ve just waited and took a different shot, it was quite a hard time and lesson to learn.”
Joyce believes an immediate rematch with Zhang was the way to go. “I don’t really have time to piece my way back another way, so I have to,” Joyce said. “Because I could’ve had a fight in the meantime. Someone could’ve fought Zhang instead or Zhang could’ve had that opportunity at the WBO [title]. But this is why I enacted the immediate rematch [clause], so I can get back in position.”
The former olympian turned 38 years old on Tuesday, so the run at unifying any heavyweight title must begin now. Another loss to Zhang wouldn’t make becoming a champion impossible for Joyce, but he would have a long road back to title contention. Many of his critics believe using the activation clause and insisting for this rematch was a stubborn move on Joyce’s part, because he is not willing to admit that Zhang is a bad matchup for him. However, to be the best in the world you have to beat the best in the world.
Zhang rebounded from a unanimous decision loss to Filip Hrgovic with his win against Joyce. The 40-year-old certainly flew under the radar heading into his first title fight, but he proved that he has skills that should not be slept on. He like many watching was somewhat muddled at Joyce’s speed and lack of defense.
The Chinese champion was hoping Joyce would not activate the rematch clause because he thought he was on the way to fighting Tyson Fury. "I was little bit disappointed because I was very, very close to making that Tyson Fury fight happen, right before Joe activated the rematch clause," said Zhang.
"But we had this in the contract. I had to sign the rematch clause in order to get to the first fight. So I will do whatever is right which is the rematch."
Zhang’s co-manager Terry Lane believes a second win over Joyce separates him from all other heavyweight contenders. "I think a win for Zhilei on Saturday really separates out the heavyweight division," Lane told Sky Sports. "If he is victorious, you really have Fury, Usyk and Zhang on top. Everyone else will be far, far beneath.”
He continued, "If Zhilei wins, as we expect him to again, Fury is our first target.
"We will have to sit back and see what fights get made - and perhaps more importantly, which fights do not get made.
"This division is just a constant game of 'musical chairs'."
The main card can be seen on ESPN + starting at 2:20 pm ET
