A new player at heavyweight has arrived.
Zhilei Zhang, a southern tennis player from China, used a left-handed penalty to aim Joe Joyce’s right eye and force the ring doctor to stop the scheduled 12-round match in Round 6 at Copper Box Arena in London, delivering Zhang’s biggest win yet. his career.
The previously undefeated Joyce was at the peak of his first title. That is gone for now. And Zhang, a sideline candidate to join the fight, is now anyone’s legitimate opponent.
“Today belongs to me,” Zhang said through a translator in the ring. “It belongs to everyone who has appeared, it belongs to every Chinese who has appeared.”
Joe Joyce’s puffy eyes led to his first defeat. James Chance / Getty Images
The key to Zhang’s success wasn’t complicated: The 6-foot-6, 280-pound player couldn’t slide left straight from start to finish, which startled Joyce several times and began to swell her eyes after just a few laps. .
Zhang (25-1-1, 20 KOs) landed 78 of 140 powerful shots (56%), according to CompuBox. And almost all of them are left-handed.
Joyce (15-1, 14 KOs) never stayed out of the fight. The Londoner, also 6-foot-6, started to overtake Zhang in the third round. He is said to have won from Round 3 to Round 5.
However, he later admitted that he could not avoid Zhang’s departure. As a result, the ring doctor was summoned to the apron for an eye exam between Rounds 5 and 6 then again in the middle of the final round as it appeared to be almost completely closed.
The doctor whispered something in the ear of referee Howard Foster, who then stopped the game. The official stoppage time was 1:23 of the sixth inning.
Joyce seemed dumbfounded during the post-fight interview.
He’s in a good position to face one of two heavyweights, fellow countryman Tyson Fury or Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk, in his next bout. Now he has to go back to the gym and begin the rebuilding process, which will presumably include his defensive work.
“He hit really hard,” Joyce said. “And he has a clumsy style because he is a southerly, and a very strong southerly. I kept getting hit with his left hand. I am disappointed. I apologize to all my fans and supporters.
“… I will come back. My journey is not over. This may have been an obstacle I tripped over, but I’ll be back.”
Meanwhile, Zhang made history.
The 2008 Olympic silver medalist, who lives in New Jersey, put in a stellar performance in a loss to rival Filip Hrgovic last August, which has revitalized his career. and help him get a spot at Joyce.
Then on Saturday, he gave the performance of a lifetime to claim Joyce’s “temporary” WBO belt. That makes him the first Chinese heavyweight boxer to hold any world title. And he did it at the age of 39.
Currently He can target Fury and Usyk.
“I am 39 years old but I am very disciplined,” he said. “It’s raining heavily. Next step, I’m going to win the title.”
