Joe, ‘The Juggernaut’ Joyce, will be trying to bounce back from two losses to 2023 against Zhilie Zhang when he returns to the ring on March 16th against domestic-level fighter Kash Ali in Birmingham.

Joyce was completely overmatched in his two defeats against Zhang, leaving some fans to question whether he’s washed.

The Joyce-Ali fight still isn’t official yet, so we have to wait and see if it’s announced. Considering the huge backlash the 38-year-old Joyce is getting over this match-up against Kash, it wouldn’t be the biggest shock in the world if a better opponent were selected for Joe.

A Step Back or Smart Play?

The 6’6″ Joyce’s advanced age suggests that he can’t afford to be matched against too many scrubs because he’s too old to be brought back over two to three years, as we see with some fighters after they get beaten badly.

Joseph Parker is an extreme case example of a fighter brought back at a glacial pace after his two defeats in 2018. Parker was given tune-up-level opposition from 2018 to 2023. Joyce can’t do that.

Declan Taylor of @BoxingNewsED is reporting the news of the 2016 Olympic super heavyweight silver medalist Joyce (15-2, 14 KOs) taking on the 31-year-old Kash Ali (21-2, 12 KOs) next on March 16.

Joyce’s promoter is bringing him back slowly to rebuild him, similar to what Eddie Hearn has been doing with Anthony Joshua after his consecutive losses to Oleksandr Usyk. AJ has invested an entire year of fighting lower-level opposition and he’s still continuing to do that with his fight against Francis Ngannou.

So, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. ‘The Juggernaut’ Joyce needs to be brought back against a gimme-level opponent or two before he’s thrown back in there with the murderer’s row killers in the heavyweight division.

Kash’s Chance To Finish Joyce

This is Kash’s chance to finish the career of ‘The Juggernaut’ Joyce by going after his chin and taking advantage of the damage that was done to him in his last two defeats against Zhilei Zhang. If Joyce loses to Kash, it’s reasonable to assume that he’ll retire.

Kash is coming off a six-round points defeat to Bohdan Myronets in July 2023. Before that, Kash had won his previous six fights since losing to David Price by a fifth-round disqualification in 2019. That was a fight in which Kash bit Price and was subsequently DQ’d.