Joe Joyce suffers a stunning defeat to Zili Zhang in a major blow to his world title hopes | Boxing News

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Joe Joyce suffered a major blow in his quest for a world title as he suffered a stunning defeat by China’s Zhili Zhang at the Copper Box Arena on Saturday night.

The juggernaut relinquished his interim WBO belt as his 39-year-old opponent produced a powerful display to force the referee to stop the contest in the sixth round.

A severe swelling over Joyce’s eye told the story of Chang’s incredible strength, and the damage eventually proved too much as Howard Foster had to step in halfway through.

It was the first professional defeat of Joyce’s career, while for Zhang it was the perfect response to his divisive first defeat at the hands of Philip Hergović in an IBF title elimination last August.

Preparations for the fight anticipated a possible showdown with the likes of Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk or Anthony Joshua for Joyce, but this was Chang’s night and the victor announced his intentions to go after the reigning champions.

Image: Zhilei Zhang celebrates his victory over Joe Joyce

Zhang wasted no time introducing the London crowd to his power as he rocked Joyce with a crushing left hook, which his opponent countered with a powerful jab of his own to enforce his knockout credentials. But Zhang came back, breaking through Joyce’s defenses again with a big jab to swing the Briton’s head back, leaving him with something to think about when the pair broke up at the end of the opening round.

The Visitor continued to look dangerous in the second and threatened to put Joyce to the canvas with an emphatic right-left combination that sent the home favorite stumbling towards the ropes. Soon, blood was drawn from Joyce’s nose, which had begun to swell under her eyes, this was Zhang’s early dominance.

Joyce seemed to get out of the blocks faster in the third, but for all his intent, Chang remained more than a match for him, landing another massive left hook to gasp from the crowd, who were also reminded of their notoriously hard man’s chin. .

The shots were piling up quickly, though, and Zhang continued hitting the face of Joyce, who was forced to absorb another clinical combo before sweeping to one side with a clean left hook at the end of the round.

Image: Joe Joyce suffered the first defeat in his career

Joyce’s best spell arrived in the fifth when he finally managed to force Zhang back, only for him to eat another quick left hand as a good measure. Then the pace of the fight started to pick up as the pair wrestled midway through the ring, but the pause was only temporary as Joyce, whose eye was continuing to swell, rushed in and worked to make up for lost rounds.

The referee asked Joyce’s corner to catch a glimpse of their man in the eye on the break, prompting Zhang to agitate the crowd into believing he was on his way to winning.

Zhang’s production showed non-stop, and in the end Foster had no choice but to step in and wave a fight, such was the damage to Joyce’s eye.

Dillian White was on hand tonight to fuel speculation of a meeting with Joyce later this year. Joyce may have unfinished business with Big Bang Zhang, who went home to celebrate the greatest win of his career.

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