Joe Joyce vs. Zhang Zhilei | BT Sport - 15 April 2023

[Manchester Hitman]

Joyce and Zhang could be a brilliant accidental comedy duo. Both are hilarious

[Controversial]

Worth watching the short highlights for both fights. He arguably won them both (I had him beating Hrgovic while the Forrest fight was three dominant rounds followed by him surviving for the remainder of the fight so was a weird one). Zhang has good combinations and power but his stamina and possibly his defence are the things that ultimately let him down. He's not getting any younger either.

Yeah nothing spectacular about him, just a big lump who can give and take punishment. Unless Joyce suddenly losses his ability to take a punch I just see Joyce's better engine winning it for him.

Zhang looks less polished than joyce, and looks wide open to be hit.

I think he will take a beating before getting stopped in the last 3rd. Could be a brutal one this, cannot see him getting out of the way of Joyce's shots.

Yeah that’s how I see it

[Ruthless-RKO]

Joe Joyce: “I’ve got the WBO interim, I don’t know how close I could be to a world title. All the others seem to be running scared or doing their own little things. I want the fight to happen, but I get how things work with the governing bodies and I can only fight what’s put in front of me…I respect Zhang’s power and I won’t be going in there recklessly, and also he’s a southpaw so that’s more of a tricky style than I’m used to.”

Zhilei Zhang: “He’g got a tough chin, great stamina, but I’m the Big Bang right here. I bang everything!”

Joyce is a 10:1 favorite.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Press Release Z ESPN+ TO AIR JOYCE VS. ZHANG

Top Rank on ESPN+ returns to London this Saturday with an action-packed doubleheader at the Copper Box Arena. In the main event, undefeated British knockout artist Joe Joyce defends his WBO interim heavyweight title against Chinese contender Zhilei Zhang. The co-feature will see former unified junior lightweight champion Mikaela Mayer making her lightweight debut against former two-time junior welterweight world champion Christina “Medusa” Linardatou in a 10-rounder for the WBC interim lightweight championship. Promoted by Queensberry Promotions, Joyce-Zhang, Mayer-Linardatou and undercard bouts will stream live and exclusively in the U.S. on ESPN+ beginning at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT.

Joyce (15-0, 14 KOs) captured a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio and debuted as a pro following year. The 37-year-old has notched wins over former world champs Bermane Stiverne and Joseph Parker and against title challengers Carlos Takam and Bryant Jennings. In his last fight, Joyce stopped Parker in the 11th round to capture the interim WBO title. The undefeated knockout artist is on the path towards a potential showdown with heavyweight king Tyson Fury, but he’ll need to defend his strap against a fellow silver medalist.

Zhang (24-1-1, 19 KOs), a 2008 Chinese Olympian, started his career in the paid ranks in 2014. He went 22-0 before fighting to a draw against Jerry Forrest in 2021. The 39-year-old then scored stoppage wins over Craig Lewis and Scott Alexander before suffering his first pro loss against undefeated Olympic bronze medalist Filip Hrgovic. In terms of height and reach, Zhang and Joyce are identical as both are 6’6” tall with 80-inch reaches.

Mayer (17-1, 5 KOs), a 2016 U.S. Olympian, signed with Top Rank in 2017 and captured the WBO junior lightweight championship with a unanimous decision victory against Ewa Brodnicka in October 2020. The following year, the Los Angeles native unified the WBO and IBF titles against Maiva Hamadouche. In her last fight, Mayer suffered the first defeat of her career, a razor-thin split decision setback to Alycia Baumgardner at London’s O2 Arena. Mayer wants to reverse her lone defeat, but she’ll first step up to lightweight to face Linardatou, the only woman to defeat Baumgardner in the paid ranks.

In 2016, Linardatou (14-2, 6 KOs) unsuccessfully challenged Delfine Persoon for the WBC lightweight world title. She then bounced back with four straight wins, including a victory over Baumgardner and a win against Kandi Wyatt to capture the vacant WBO junior welterweight championship. Linardatou lost the belt to Katie Taylor in 2019 but regained it with a unanimous decision over Prisca Vicot in February 2020. Linardatou returned from a 29-month layoff last July with a six-round points victory against Aleksandra Vujovic.

In other ESPN+ streaming action from London:
Undefeated heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma (2-0, 2 KOs) makes his third 2023 appearance in a scheduled six-rounder against Ukraine’s Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko (9-12-1, 6 KOs). Itauma made his professional debut in January with a scintillating first-round knockout against Marcel Bode, a performance he replicated against Ramon Ibarra in March.

In a battle of undefeated lightweights, England’s Sam Noakes (10-0, 10 KOs) will put his regional titles on the line in a 12-round fight against Indian standout Karthik Sathish Kumar (10-0, 4 KOs). Noakes is coming off a fourth-round TKO over then-unbeaten Calvin McCord last November, while Kumar notched a second-round TKO win over Meechaiya Kaiwiset in March.

[jameswilson]

Who is the ref?

Hopefully not a British ref who’ll just stop Zhang at the first big right hand he takes.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Who is the ref?

Hopefully not a British ref who’ll just stop Zhang at the first big right hand he takes.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[jameswilson]

Mayer had high heels on for those unaware.

[joshj909]

Who is the ref?

Hopefully not a British ref who’ll just stop Zhang at the first big right hand he takes.

Well this could be underwhelming...

[joshj909]

Mayer had high heels on for those unaware.

Still 5 inches in height between them without the heels but Mayer looks bigger all round aswell despite Linardatou's last fight being 9 lbs heavier than Mayer's.

[margaret thatcher]

wow mayer decided to reinvent as full on white trash stripper

[Cyclops]

Who is the ref?

Hopefully not a British ref who’ll just stop Zhang at the first big right hand he takes.

For fucks sake!

At least I won't miss the last train.

[dookus]

Who is the ref?

Hopefully not a British ref who’ll just stop Zhang at the first big right hand he takes.

Oh fornicate. I just watched that ending and it is a diabolical stoppage

[forcefraser]

why does Foster get this? he`s ruined too many fights.

Get a yank in, or the bloke who reffed Maccaranelli v Frenkel

[jameswilson]

why does Foster get this? he`s ruined too many fights.

Get a yank in, or the bloke who reffed Maccaranelli v Frenkel

Or Mercer v Morrison.

[TheLeprechaun]

why does Foster get this? he`s ruined too many fights.

Get a yank in, or the bloke who reffed Maccaranelli v Frenkel

Or Mercer v Morrison.

Foster is going to ruin this fight with an early stoppage of Zhang isn't he

[Manchester Hitman]

Why the fcuk is Foster referring this of all fights. A British stoppage tomorow is unthinkable. Sometimes I think the board just do things to irritate the public on purpose.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Castore signs Joe Joyce



British heavyweight boxer, Joe Joyce has become the new ambassador of Castore.

The Manchester performance sportswear brand has signed the boxer ahead of his fight against Zhilei Zhang on Saturday.

“Joyce is determined to reach the next level of his career, which requires a persistence and commitment that we admire, and we’re confident that Castore will help him unlock this potential,” said Sam Lucas, Chief Partnership Officer at Castore.

“Castore is a premium performance training brand that supports athletes in a variety of disciplines, including boxing, so we’re very excited to showcase Joyce’s talents as he trains to make his goal of becoming the World Heavyweight Champion a reality.”

Joyce is the first tier one boxing ambassador for Castore and with 15 wins, and 14 knockouts during his career, he’s believed, by some, to be only behind Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk when it comes to the world’s best heavyweights.

“I’m determined to become a best heavyweight in the world, and I’m always striving to improve and develop my skills, and I’m confident that Castore’s high-performance, technical garments will help me to achieve these goals,” he explained.

“My number one focus in boxing is to become the World Heavyweight Champion and then become undisputed and leave a legacy, proving that you can always achieve your goals and improve if you’re dedicated and committed, so I can’t wait to see where the future and my partnership with Castore takes me.”

[Manchester Hitman]

Castore signs Joe Joyce



British heavyweight boxer, Joe Joyce has become the new ambassador of Castore.

The Manchester performance sportswear brand has signed the boxer ahead of his fight against Zhilei Zhang on Saturday.

“Joyce is determined to reach the next level of his career, which requires a persistence and commitment that we admire, and we’re confident that Castore will help him unlock this potential,” said Sam Lucas, Chief Partnership Officer at Castore.

“Castore is a premium performance training brand that supports athletes in a variety of disciplines, including boxing, so we’re very excited to showcase Joyce’s talents as he trains to make his goal of becoming the World Heavyweight Champion a reality.”

Joyce is the first tier one boxing ambassador for Castore and with 15 wins, and 14 knockouts during his career, he’s believed, by some, to be only behind Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk when it comes to the world’s best heavyweights.

“I’m determined to become a best heavyweight in the world, and I’m always striving to improve and develop my skills, and I’m confident that Castore’s high-performance, technical garments will help me to achieve these goals,” he explained.

“My number one focus in boxing is to become the World Heavyweight Champion and then become undisputed and leave a legacy, proving that you can always achieve your goals and improve if you’re dedicated and committed, so I can’t wait to see where the future and my partnership with Castore takes me.”

Glad to see Joyce getting some good commercial deals - he’s a really solid guy.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[forcefraser]

Big Zhang by stoppage is 12-1

Worth a stab?

Reckon Joyce should shellack him, but Zhang can bang and he he will be going balls out for a win here

[Ruthless-RKO]

Joyce (15-0, 14 KOs) tipped the scales at 256lb – a weight he hasn’t seen before a fight since his decision victory over Bryant Jennings in 2019.

The lighter Joyce will face Zhilei ‘Big Bang’ Zhang (24-1-1, 19 KOs), who weighed in at 278lb – just one pound higher than his fight against Filip Hrgovic, and matching his career highest which came against Andrii Rudenko back in 2019.

[forcefraser]

Two absolute units

[Glass Joe]

this could be the wish version of lewis - klitschko

[Kilburn]

Joyce looking in great shape. A stone lighter than last time.