By Charles Brun: Zhilei Zhang says the jaw of interim WBO heavyweight champion Joe Joyce’s chin will crumble to pieces if he lands the perfect shot on Saturday night, April 15th at the Copper Box Arena in London, England. Joyce-Zhang event will be shown on ESPN+ at 2:00 p.m. ET.
If Joyce (15-0, 14 KOs) loses this fight, his dream of winning a world title against IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk will be over. He’ll have lost his place to the 6’6″ Zhang.
Zhang (24-1, 19 KOs) is getting a second chance to earn a title shot after losing a controversial twelve-round decision to Filip Hrgovic last August.
Joyce is the favorite going into Saturday’s fight, but that doesn’t mean much because he’s facing one of the hardest punchers in the heavyweight division.
Zhang has the kind of power where if he connects cleanly with one of his right hands or left hooks, it’s going to be game over for Joyce.
The two-time Zhang shares one thing in common with Joyce, having lost a questionable decision in the Olympics. In Zhang’s fight against Anthony Joshua in the 2012 London Olympics, many boxing fans believed he deserved the victory.
Joshua, the home fighter, was given a 15-11 points decision over Zhang. For his part, Joyce lost a controversial split decision to France’s Tony Yoka in the 2016 Olympics.
How to watch Joyce vs. Zhang?
Boxing fans catch watch Joyce vs. Zhang event this Saturday, April 15th, on ESPN+ at 2:00 pm ET at the Copper Box Arena in London England.
“Yes, it’s going to be a shock; it’s going to be an exciting fight,” said Zhilei Zhang to iFL TV about his title challenge to interim WBO heavyweight champion Joe Joyce this Saturday night in London.
“It depends on if I land the perfect shot. If that happens, his jaw will go to pieces,” Zhang continued about Joyce. “Before the fight, everybody said he was ranked #3 with the IBF and one of the best fighters in the world, but when I got in the ring with it, it was just like that and nothing special,” said Zhang about his fight against Filip Hrgovic last August in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
“That’s my goal; that’s my dream. I’m not going to take a break after this one. If I beat Joe Joyce, no break. I’m going directly to the title.
“I’m the first boxer from China that has ever fought for a world title, so that makes some history, and people really pay attention to what I do and for this fight, we’re going to do the first ever pay-per-view in China. So it’s making history again,” said Zhang.
