Joe Joyce has had time to reflect on his first career defeat and as this weekend’s heavyweight rematch edges ever closer, the former WBO interim world champion is steadfast in wanting a return to the top table – but needs to right the wrongs from five months prior against Zhilei Zhang. Plenty was said about his weight for their maiden matchup, but what does the Juggernaut think?
Joyce concedes old wounds resurfaced after rewatching loss
- Joe Joyce explains plenty – from coming into the fight 15lbs lighter in weight (256lbs) than Joseph Parker win, how he reflected on defeat and how things will be different in rematch on call with written journalists
- Confirms he’ll come into second fight with Zhang heavier, says he’s dedicated time to practicing for the awkward southpaw style and acknowledges stoppage defeat could serve as a blessing in disguise
- “My chin is an attribute in my armour, but I’ve got more about me. Only started boxing at 22, an Olympic medallist, top of the rankings, I’m going to be a world champion – that’s what I got in this for – to be successful.”
- Birthday boy (38 today) finds himself in must-win territory this weekend, if he wants to reclaim interim WBO champion status and eventually challenge for the full version of heavyweight world title next year
Zhilei Zhang (c) vs. Joe Joyce 2 for WBO interim world heavyweight title
London’s Wembley Arena, on TNT Sports in UK and ESPN+ in US
This coming Saturday, main event ringwalks expected around 10.30pm BST
He can’t recall the exact moment that things clicked back into gear, but frankly doesn’t need to. Joe Joyce is at peace with his first career defeat, one he seeks to avenge this weekend, and knows a repeat performance simply isn’t an option.
Having immersed himself in fight footage barely hours after their initial meeting on April 15, the 2016 Olympic silver medallist spoke about the psychological impacts of coping with his first professional defeat during a media call last Friday.
Getting out into nature, spending time with his loved ones, exploring hobbies away from the sport and taking the mind away from such a punishing sport helped get him back into the groove as he looks to make amends less than six months later.
“Yeah, it exposed a lot of mistakes I made in camp. Maybe if I had beaten him then it would’ve shown itself later on, so I’ll now come back stronger for it.
It’s a tricky, tough fight between top-level heavyweights and going to be a great achievement when I beat him.”
- Joyce on whether his confidence was dented
Many critics voiced their beliefs he should’ve had a tune-up fight against a less dangerous southpaw or taken additional recovery time to reflect upon his options.
Both outcomes would’ve seen him not invoke a contractual rematch clause. Zhang would likely have boxed WBC champion Tyson Fury this summer instead if that was the case, and still might do next year if successful a second time on London soil.
Joyce said he watched the defeat back with some AI-specialised computer scoring which showed he was competitive and boxed better than he initially thought.
“I rewatched it straight away when I got back to my hotel room, it was good to critique the performance and watched it a couple times that night – then a few times afterwards.
It’s obviously better to watch victory but I saw where Zhang was successful and how I’ll improve this time around. I was in that fight, now I’m gonna beat him.”
Their first fight was also his first camp with the guidance of strength-and-conditioning coach Larry Wade, and Joyce said he cut something out of his protein shake that “wasn’t agreeing with him,” in relation to weight management.
Zhang has been notorious for tiring in the second-half of his 12-round fights – most recently against Filip Hrgovic (Aug. 2022) and Jerry Forrest (Feb. 2021). Joyce believes he could sense the 40-year-old’s intensity was dropping off too after a fast start.
Mosope: You said earlier that you felt him starting to tire during the fight. When exactly was this, what did you see?
Joyce: I think it was the fourth or fifth round, started landing shots and he was starting to feel them, maybe get tired.. noticed some signs, looking at the footage.
I noticed that early on it was tough to.. kinda hard to land shots and he was hitting me with the straight left that closed my eye up. He’s an awkward southpaw with fast counterpunching so it took me a while to get into the fight. When I felt like I did, my eye stopped me from continuing but I was landing more punches than him.
Total punches landed vs. thrown per round, via CompuBox
R1: Zhang 14-4 (31-40)
R2: Zhang 16-15 (37-70)
R3: Joyce 23-15 (34-100)
R4: Joyce 18-15 (34-100)
R5: Joyce 21-13 (25-113)
R6: Zhang 9-4 (19-41)
MO: Okay, so it’s been five months since the first fight. How have you improved?
JJ: From my sparring sessions in Vegas, week-to-week, overall fitness, the weight, strength and speed as you would in a training camp.
I’ve had a bit more experience with training to fight a southpaw, that’s helped because Zhang has fought orthodox guys – readily available all his career – while I’ve had time to practice, techniques and tactics to specifically beat him.
MO: Sorry to circle back around, but what’s up with this weight? Did you feel you were heavy enough to take his punches, or need to be bigger this time around?
JJ: If I won at that weight, wouldn’t have needed to change anything but the fact I lost, people were concentrating on that. My weight was light but yeah, I started that camp already on boxing weight so by the time I got to the scales, was lighter than expected and people focused on either that or my chin.
MO: You were a pound heavier for the Daniel Dubois win and speaking of, what were your thoughts on him vs. Oleksandr Usyk last month?
JJ: Dominant from Usyk but Dubois was in there, that shot he hit him with [in round five] was on the beltline and could be argued both ways. It wasn’t completely low but could’ve changed the course of the fight. Tactics and the referee’s call gave Usyk an opportunity to recover, then he nearly knocked him out with a jab. If the ref’s gonna give you five minutes… it’s a grey area but the result is now in stone.
MO: Lastly, what would you say to those who are questioning your chances. What’s the key difference this time around?
JJ: I’m heavier, so I’m gonna win [laughs]. A whole number of things, it can be even 1% difference that can change the course of a fight, I’ve just prepared and am really focused on what I’ve been doing, practicing and making sure everything’s right.
Both teams inevitably make tactical tweaks and adjustments before a rematch, and Joyce isn’t under any illusions that Zhang will not have improved too.
“He’s seeing where I was successful, already knows how to fight an orthodox fighter – me and Hrgovic have similar styles – he’s used to it, was well-schooled as an amateur and a pretty shrewd guy with a good team around him.”
Unbothered by how victory comes, just that it does – before signing off with the burning itch to satisfy fans with a fight-ending knockout punch. While many think it’s unlikely, something out of Chris Eubank Jr’s recent playbook wouldn’t go amiss.
Full card, is as follows
Running order TBA, fights still subject to change
12 round main event
Heavyweight: Zhilei Zhang (c) vs. Joe Joyce for WBO interim world title
10 rounds
Light-welterweight: Pierce O’Leary (c) vs. Kane Gardner for WBC International title
Light-heavyweight: Anthony Yarde vs. Jorge Silva
Super-middleweight: Zach Parker vs. Khalid Graidia
8 rounds
Light-heavyweight: Ezra Taylor vs. Joel McIntyre
6 rounds
Heavyweight: Moses Itauma vs. Amine Boucetta
Welterweight: Sean Noakes vs. Lukasz Barabasz
Cruiserweight: Tommy Fletcher vs. Alberto Tapia
Cruiserweight: Aloys Youmbi vs. Erik Nazaryan
Super-featherweight: Royston Barney-Smith vs. Engel Gomez
Picture source: Getty Images, all quotes transcribed here from a media call with written journalists on Sept. 15, as stated
Mo and Sports 