LONDON — China’s Zhilei Zhang set his sights on Ukraine’s heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk after dealing Britain’s Joe Joyce a first professional defeat.
Referee Howard Foster stopped the fight in the sixth of 12 scheduled rounds at London’s Copper Box Arena after the ringside doctor had twice inspected Joyce’s puffed up right eye, which was almost closed.
“Today belongs to me…I´m 39 years old, but I´m disciplined, I train hard. Next step I’m going for the title,” Zhang said through a translator after punching the air and shouting ‘Chinese Power’.
Two of the three judges had Zhang ahead at that point.
Joyce, 37, was the WBO ‘interim’ champion in the division — a title that effectively made him the WBO’s mandatory challenger for WBO, IBO, IBF and WBA champion Usyk. Britain’s Tyson Fury holds the WBC title.
Zhang and Joyce are both Olympic silver medallists, the Chinese as a super-heavyweight at home in Beijing in 2008 and the Briton in the same division in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
The Chinese had his shorter and lighter opponent in trouble from early on, Joyce providing a static target for Zhang’s booming left hand and providing plenty of work for his corner as cuts opened up.
“I’m just disappointed with my performance,” Joyce told BT Sport according to Reuters after what was his 16th pro fight.
“The right hand he kept hitting me with. I couldn’t get out of the way, so respect to Zhilei Zhang, Big Bang.
“I haven’t fought a southpaw for so long…I expected to win like I normally do.
“I’ll be back. My journey’s not over, this is just a hurdle I may have tripped over so I’ll be back.”
Zhang’s victory served as the perfect response to his own divisive first career defeat at the hands of Filip Hrgovic in their IBF title eliminator last August, and he has his sights firmly set on another title shot.
“This is what we expected,” Zhang’s co-manager Terry Lane told Sky Sports. “I believe Zhilei is the best heavyweight in the world. Anybody who thinks otherwise, I don’t think they are really paying attention.
“Is there a heavyweight who’s got a better resume in the last 12 months? He beat Hrgovic but didn’t get his hand raised. He just walked through Joe Joyce, which we knew would happen.
“He’s been turned down by Anthony Joshua, [Derek] Chisora and [Dillian] Whyte. They won’t touch him, so they’re out of the equation.
“He would physically injure and end the career of Deontay Wilder. No-one can make a fight with him, so what does that leave? [Oleksandr] Usyk and Tyson Fury.
“I know the whole sanctioning body scramble is a mess right now. No one knows how to decipher, no one knows what’s going to happen, but those are two fights that are the toughest fights, but they are the ones we want and they are the biggest fights.
“We want to talk with George [Warren] and make that happen. Our future plans are to be future world champion. Technically, he has a piece of the world title [WBO interim belt] which is historic in China.
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