British Joyce says ‘journey will continue’ after losing to China’s Zhang
Joe Joyce declared his “journey will continue” after his world-title ambitions were rocked by a shock first career defeat against Zhilei Zhang.
The British heavyweight, 37, suffered a sixth-round technical knockout at London’s Copper Box Arena on Saturday, BBC Sport reported.
Referee Howard Foster stopped the fight as Joyce struggled with a swollen eye, having suffered repeatedly against the hard hitting of China’s Zhang.
“I’ve had my loss but I’ll be back,” Joyce told BBC Sport.
“The journey will continue.”
Joyce’s swollen eye, inspected twice by the ringside doctor, was hindering his sight by the time Foster called a halt.
But the Londoner said: “I can still see through it, I think it’s just bruised. It’s a formality to go to the hospital now to check it’s not fractured or anything.”
In addition to his undefeated record, Joyce’s defeat has also cost him his WBO interim belt and his status as mandatory challenger for unified world champion Oleksandr Usyk’s WBO title.
Throughout fight week, there was much talk on when Joyce – who had held mandatory challenger status since July 2021 – would get his world-title shot.
Although it was not something Joyce was guilty of himself, many fans and pundits may have overlooked the threat of ‘Big Bang’ Zhang.
Joyce faced arguably his biggest-hitting opponent to date.
A southpaw heavyweight with strong amateur pedigree – winning silver at the 2008 Olympic Games – the 39-year-old’s only loss came on points to Filip Hrgovic in August, in a fight many observers felt he won.
Zhang has catapulted himself into world-title contention and is now the WBO’s number one challenger for Ukraine’s Usyk.
The sanctioning bodies have a rotation policy for mandatory defences, meaning Usyk must first defend against WBA mandatory Daniel Dubois, with IBF number one Hrgovic second in line.