The live conference for Zhilei Zhang vs Joe Joyce II finished just a moment ago today, the weigh-in is scheduled for tomorrow.
It is my understanding that Joyce will be coming in at a higher weight in this match compared to the previous one.
Zhang appears confident, and has asserted that he will “end Joyce’s career”.
Joyce’s left-eye looks vulnerable, and I think Zhang will target this area with jabs and right-hooks.
I haven’t seen any public workouts, and don’t know how Joyce has been preparing for Zhang.
Joyce has demonstrated that he struggles with Southpaws, namely, on two occasions: against Usyk and Zhang.
For Joyce to have success in this fight, he will need to move to his left, work the jab and setup the cross.
It is very unlikely that Joyce will start working head-movement; due to Joyce’s slow speed, he is vulnerable to Zhang’s counters.
My prediction for this fight, is that Zhang will deliver a TKO win again, after 6-rounds; Joyce will try to control range for as long as he can.
Joyce arguably has better conditioning, but he will take too many shots before hurting Zhang, and will delay Zhang’s victory.
Finally, I expect that Zhang to successfully counter Joyce’s right-hands with his powerful, fast left-straights at mid to close-range, where his hooks will also be a feature.
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Please find the following for the image source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCO4JwLtP6k
