Zhilei Zhang obliterates Joe Joyce in their rematch in spectacular fashion: delivering a knockout in the 3rd round with a right-hook.
Firstly, Joe Joyce begins this fighting on the backfoot, on the outside, which is what I expected that he would do.
Being on the inside, would be dangerous against Zhang, especially for Joyce who is much slower.
Zhang takes the first round, after successfully landing the left-hand at least 4 times, to the body and head.
After 2-rounds of unsuccessfully boxing on the outside, Joyce throws away the game plan and moves forward toward Zhang.
Joyce was having no success with his combinations when attempting to go on the attack, and instead gets countered frequently by Zhang.
Zhang was incredibly accurate with both his left-straights and right-hooks, with the fight panning more-or-less the same way as the previous fight.
The only difference, is that Zhang performed even more convincingly, the curtain calling in the second round as Zhang delivers devastating combos.
Finally, where does Joyce go from here? I don’t think he will win against a top-5 opponent, but could still defeat a top-15 opponent.
Domestically, there is a rematch opportunity against Daniel Dubois, who is coming off a loss against the talented Ukrainian, Oleksandr Usyk.
Joyce struggles with Southpaws, so would be better off fighting an orthodox fighter in his next fight, if he continues his boxing career.
There are also potential fights against Adeleye (who I believe may be going on to fight Frazer Clarke), or Agit Kabayel.
As for Zhang, he will be looking to fight either Tyson Fury, or Usyk, depending on which opportunity is available.
Please refer to my weekly picks here
image source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb3p60T5yQE
