CHINESE heavyweight Zhilei Zhang believes that Joe Joyce’s career will come to an end if they meet again. The two fighters are set to face each other in September, five months after their original match in April. Joyce has activated a rematch clause to have another opportunity against Zhang and prove himself as a strong heavyweight contender. However, at 37 years old, a second loss in a row could be devastating for ‘The Juggernaut’.
“If I were him, I would have chosen to have one or two interim fights,” Zhang told ProBox TV. “I don’t understand why his team is in such a hurry to make it happen. I feel like his team made a mistake in the first fight, and now they’re probably going to make the same mistake again. If I beat Joe Joyce again, it will be the end of his career.”
At 40 years old, Zhang is proof that age is just a number. He bounced back from a controversial loss to Filip Hrgovic to defeat Joyce. Their fight two months ago was one-sided and damaging. Joyce, known for his strong defense, relied too much on his chin to block Zhang’s punches. The 2008 Olympic silver medalist found success with his heavy left hands, and Joyce struggled with Zhang’s southpaw stance. Round after round, the British fighter was hit with the same shot, causing significant damage to Joyce’s right eye and leading to the referee stopping the contest in the middle of the sixth round.
“Their team didn’t thoroughly research and study my style,” Zhang said. “They need to learn more about me. That was their mistake. They underestimated me.”