BIGGEST WINNER
Zhilei Zhang
The formula is simple: If you take down a hot fighter, you generally take his place as the man to watch. That’s the good fortune of Zhang, who used a wicked straight left to upset previously unbeaten top contender Joe Joyce by a sixth-round knockout Saturday night in London. The 6-foot-6 southpaw from China couldn’t miss the left if he tried. He rattled his sturdy opponent several times and quickly closed his right eye with the formidable shot, which forced officials to stop the fight. Just like that Zhang (25-1-1, 20 KOs) bounced back from his disputed loss to Filip Hrgovich last August and claimed the breakthrough victory that had eluded him since he turned pro in 2014, which is why he was so elated afterward. He’s suddenly a leading candidate to face one of the heavyweight titleholders, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. That should be an attractive option for the champions, who had been considering Joyce as an opponent after talks to face one another broke down. Could Zhang beat either of them? Well, we didn’t think he was going to take down Joyce. The 2008 Olympic silver medalist has ability, including a left hand from hell. He’s physically imposing, 6-foot-6 and 278 pounds for the fight on Saturday. And he couldn’t be more confident. It’s not unthinkable that the next heavyweight champion will come from China.
BIGGEST LOSER
Joe Joyce
"It's disappointing, I expected to win like I normally do"
"I will be back"
Joe Joyce reflects on a tough defeat…💭#FightNight | #JoyceZhang | 📺 BT Sport 1 pic.twitter.com/jNVxPOzeMU
— Boxing on BT Sport 🥊 (@BTSportBoxing) April 15, 2023
Joyce (15-1, 14 KOs) is a capable boxer but he has been successful primarily because of his physical attributes, unusual strength, heavy hands and a sturdy chin. Where did he fall short on Saturday? He had neither the instincts nor the speed and reflexes to avoid Zhang’s left hand, which the underdog landed at will. As a result, Joyce suffered his first defeat and seemed to have his limitations exposed. He was competitive in Rounds 3 through 5, to be fair. He arguably outworked Zhang during that stretch. And he was still firing back at the time the fight was stopped. However, none of that mattered in light of Zhang’s left hand, which was destined to end the fight one way or another. A befuddled Joyce acknowledged that he couldn’t get out of the way of Zhang’s signature punch and seemed to blame the winner’s southpaw stance. That raises some questions. Isn’t that precisely what Joyce worked on during his training camp with respected trainer Ismael Salas? Was Zhang’s left just quicker and better than he expected? Is Joyce just not good enough to cope with such a formidable weapon? Or, as some have suggested, did Joyce commit the cardinal sin of taking victory for granted? The 37-year-old Londoner has a lot of work to do if he hopes to climb back into title contention. I won’t be surprised if it doesn’t happen.
BIGGEST OPPORTUNITIES
Fury and Usyk
Joyce could exercise a rematch clause in the contract he and Zhang signed but that doesn’t seem likely. The loser suggested afterward that it would be smarter for him to take an interim fight before facing his conqueror a second time, which would give him an opportunity to work on deficiencies. That seems to open the door for Zhang to pursue a title shot. And he obviously has a preference between the two beltholders: “Tyson Fury in China,” he said after his victory on Saturday. That prospect probably will be attractive to Fury, who doesn’t have many good options beyond Usyk. Only a showdown with Anthony Joshua would make for a bigger event than Zhang after what we witnessed on Saturday. And Zhang has already kicked off the trash talk. He implied that Joyce was on his feet at the end of the fight because of his unusually strong chin, an attribute he believes Fury doesn’t have. “Tyson Fury doesn’t have that chin. He will go down,” Zhang said. Of course, he omitted the fact that Fury is one of the most skillful heavyweights of his generation, which could make Zhang’s life miserable if they were to meet in the ring. That doesn’t matter now, though. Zhang has earned the opportunity to fight for a title. He and his handlers will pull out all stops to make it happen.
RABBIT PUNCHES
The Zhang-Joyce scoring had some people in an uproar. I had Zhang leading 48-47 after five rounds, three rounds to two. Two judges reportedly had the same score while the third had Joyce leading 48-47. I understand the outrage in light of the damage caused by Zhang’s left hand but I don’t think the third judge’s scoring is worthy of an investigation, as some have proposed. Joyce ate one left after another but, again, he was the busier fighter for much of the fight. Of course, Zhang, who believed he was cheated against Hrgovich, made sure the judges didn’t decide the winner this time. … Usyk might be the last guy Joyce should fight. The Ukrainian also is a southpaw and is both quicker and better than Zhang. How many left hands do you think Usyk would land against Joyce? … Mikaela Mayer (18-1, 5 KOs) looked comfortable in her debut at 135 pounds, easily outpointing late replacement Lucy Wildheart (10-2, 4 KOs) on the Zhang-Joyce card. She controlled the action both from the outside and inside, where she got the better of almost every exchange. The 32-year-old American, a former 130-pound titleholder, is now targeting undisputed 135-pound champion Katie Taylor. How would she fare in that fight? Mayer might be too easy to hit. She has a good offensive game. I would focus on her head movement and defense in general in camp leading up to a meeting with Taylor.
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