Tony Bellew Says ‘Greed’ Was To Blame For Joe Joyce Upset

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Tony Bellew has weighed in on Joe Joyce’s recent loss to Zhilei Zhang and described the decision to fight the dangerous Chinese southpaw as “greedy”.

Against all odds and in outside territory, Zhang put on the best performance of his career at the Copper Box, going full out and stopping Joyce in six rounds, damaging the Juggernaut’s eye to the point that he was no longer able to continue.

Speaking to IFL TV about the fight, Bellew seemed taken aback by Joyce’s team’s decision to fight Zhang.

“I just think it was a little greedy to take that fight. When you’re about to get a world title and you’re the mandatory, you just say “you know what, we’ll either sit and wait or have an easier fight – we don’t need to face this monster.” ”

“He went to the nail with Filip Hrgovic. I’m not saying he beat Hrgovic, but it was a very close and tough fight. So why do you need to face him?

“Because he has the loss to Hrgovic, you have nothing to gain and everything to lose. And so it played out for Joe Joyce.

Joyce lost the interim WBO world title to ‘Big Bang’, which means he’ll have to make it up in order to reclaim his place in line for a shot against unified world champion Oleksandr Usyk.

The Briton appeared to be hesitant about activating a contractual rematch clause in his post-fight interview, but reports now seem to suggest he will sign for another crack in Zhang, who has also been linked to a summer showdown with WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.

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