Zhilei Zhang vs. Joe Joyce II summary online, round by round, stats and highlights
Zhilei Zhang brutally knocks Joe Joyce out
Zhilei Zhang emphatically defends his title with brutal knockout of Joe Joyce
Zhilei Zhang has laid to rest the criticism that still lingered over the first fight with an emphatic knockout of Joe Joyce to solidify his WBO interim title.
In the first meeting, even though Zhang clearly outboxed Joyce, it was a stoppage ordered by the ringside doctor. Joyce and his supporters could cling to the idea, no matter how minor or technical, that Zhang didn't actually knock him out.
No longer.
Zhilei Zhang laid one of the all-time great right hooks onto Joe Joyce's chin in the opening minute of the third round. It was a hammer blow, a shot that no heavyweight fighter in the world could have withstood. And Joe Joyce collapsed under it's weight.
That right hook didn't come out of nowhere, however. It was set up from the opening bell. Joe Joyce claimed that he had worked on errors in this training camp, but when it came down to it, all of his changes seemed to boil down to "move the other way." And that is just not enough.
Joyce looked slow and plodding from the outset, and as much as the movement to his left looked different to the viewer in round one, by round two it looked as if he needed to mix it up with something else. Plus, every time Zhang landed a heavy shot on him, Joyce reverted to form. He froze or even reacted to his right side. Added to the slow, pawing jabs was enough to set him up for Zhang's worst.
Now that Zhang has solidified his title, legitimized himself in the eyes of many in the boxing world, by undoing a fighter like Joe Joyce so comprehensively, it is perhaps time for him to get his just reward. With a long and illustrious career behind him, Zhang has always found as a professional that the big-money fights, and the world title shots, eluded him. It would be hard to keep him off the list of challengers now.
After the fight, Zhang offered a sop to the London crowd, asking them, "Do you want me to shut Tyson Fury up?", a question that drew a big round of applause. For Fury and for Frank Warren it will be difficult to avoid a Zhang fight in the near future.
For Oleksandr Usyk, it will be difficult to ignore the fact that Zhang will become the WBO's mandatory challenger for the world title. And you know what? Zhang deserves it. He deserves both of these fights. He deserves to get a shot at the title and more than that, he deserves to be paid.
Let's face it. With Zhilei Zhang, Chinese boxing has arrived at the big table.
Goodbye!
That is going to be it from our live coverage of the Zhilei Zhang vs. Joe Joyce II fight. We hope that you enjoyed it as much as we did. Keep up to date with all of the boxing and sports news with Diario AS USA.
See you soon!
What a right hook!
This was a peach of a shot! No heavyweight in the world could have taken that.
Zhilei Zhang wins by KO
Joyce comes out with a little better pace, but he is still staying outside, looking wary.
Zhang is landing the big shots, both to the body and to the head. Joyce is plodding, pawing, not really committing to the punch.
Zhang tees off on Joyce! He lands left after left, snapping Joyce's head back, then another to the body. This is looking like Joe Joyce has not learned anything from the first fight.
With nine seconds left in the round, Zhang lands a huge right hook flush! Joyce collapses on his face and can't beat the count. That is it! Joe Joyce has been completely destroyed by Big Bang Zhang.
Zhang makes an early move in to try and land that left hand. He is perhaps too far out to make it work for him, but Joyce is sticking to his leftward movement and pawing jab.
Zhang came forward and Zhang lands a hammer of a left hand on Joyce, snapping his head back. There is blood streaming from the nose of Joyce. He is in trouble!
Zhang is so big and strong that he is stopping Joyce from anything that he tries to do, killing his gameplan.
Zhang lands another couple of combos, huge left hands and doing real damage to Joyce.
Both men come into this fight heavier, and Joyce is moving to his left, something that he never did in the first fight.
They paw each other, feeling out their opponent. Zhang likes a slow pace, it suits his power, but Joyce is trying to add movement to his arsenal, keeping his head mobile as well as moving in the opposite direction.
Zhang lands a couple of left hands to the body, but nothing that does any damage at all.
The three judges will be South Africa's Deon Dwarte, China's Mark Leong, and England's Marcus McDonnell. The referee in the ring will be Steve Gray.
The defending champion is Zhilei Zhang and he chooses We Will Rock You by Queen for his ringwalk song. Normally a crowd pleaser, it is not enough to win the London audience and Zhang comes out to a chorus of boos. Taking no time to soak in atmosphere, Zhang marches immediately to the ring, Mike Tyson style.
Zhilei Zhang vs Joe Joyce 2 (WBO interim heavyweight title)
Here we go!
Joe Joyce is now the challenger in this fight rather than the champion as he was in their first meaning. He ring walks to the song Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen, and the crowd joins in the singing. Joyce is the home town boy, and he really has the crowd on his side.
The main event
It is just about time for the main event. Zhilei Zhang vs Joe Joyce 2 (WBO interim heavyweight title) is being billed as a must-win for both fighters. At 38 and 40 years old, both of these men are on the cusp of big money fights, but if they lose it could be a couple of years before they get those offers, years that they don't have to spare.
You have to give Silva credit for taking a very difficult fight with an opponent who was probably always out of his league at very short notice. But you could see that he was outclassed from the opening bell and by the time he went down in the second round, Silva simply wanted no more.
Anthony Yarde wins by KO
Silva is staying outside, very negative attitude, letting Yarde push him back onto the ropes. Yarde is unloadiing heavy body blows and this is not going to last long like this.
A shot to the head drops Silva and you can see in his eyes that he has no intention of standing up. He allows the referee to get to nine before standing and smiling as the fight is waved off.
Yarde comes out and shows his power with a heavy right to the body. Silva definitely felt that.
Yarde is looking ahead to a potential fight with Joshua Buatsi, but needs to take care of the man in front of him first.
Anthony Yarde vs Jorge Silva (light-heavyweight)
Now we have a ten round light-heavyweight contest between England's Anthony Yarde and Portugal's Jorge Silva. This was a late replacement for Yarde, who was scheduled to fight Ricky Summers but Summers had to pull out. Yarde asked his team to find someone because he prefers to stay active.
Moses Itauma wins by KO
Itauma comes out fighting in the southpaw stance and looks for the big knockout shot straight away.
Just a minute into the fight and his big left uppercut lands with authority! Boucetta goes down!
He manages to get to his feet but Itauma stays on the attack, swarming Boucetta with accurate and powerful combinations. Just as the referee looks to be stepping in, Boucetta goes down again.
There is no need for a count this time, and the fight is waved off. It lasted only 82 seconds.
Moses Itauma vs Amine Boucetta (heavyweight)
Now we settle in for a heavyweight contest between 18 year old Londoner Moses Itauma as he takes on Belgium's Amine Boucetta.
O'Leary wins by UD
The judges saw it as:
100-90
99-92
99-92
All for Pierce O'Leary.
Not giving Gardner round five was harsh. I might would have given him ten as well, but in any event it was never a close contest.
For me, that was a comprehensive win by Pierce O'Leary and it is a shame that Gardner didn't stand his ground earlier on, letting the first four rounds slip away without much of a fight.
Let's see what the judges say.
The final round now and Gardner needs a knockout to wiin. O'Leary knows this and is simply staying away from his opponent.
Even when Gardner gets O'Leary on the ropes, he is not letting his hands fly, still a little wary, and more than a little tired.
Gardner starts to have success with combinations and lands a great right hand that spins O'Leary's head round!
Both men are exhausted. O'Leary is trying to evade for the final seconds but Gardner lands his best punches in the dying seconds.
The two fighters have swapped styles now, with Gardner taking the center of the ring and trying to walk his opponent down. O'Leary is staying outside and keeping out of range. It is a good tactic, with O'Leary so far ahead on the scorecard, he can afford to take a round and just try and wear Gardner out a little bit.
That eye of O'Leary starts to bleed a little now, and there is also blood coming from his nose.
Gardner comes out on the front foot, looking as if perhaps he has made it through the worst of that buzz that the temple blow gave him in round 6.
He is not yet causing any sort of damage to the Irishman, yet to make that cut pay for him.
O'Leary is supremely confident, perhaps overconfident even, as he showboats in front of Gardner.
Gardner is back to working outside, trying to stay away from O'Leary's power and clear his head.
O'Leary pushes forward and punishes Gardner while he has the upper hand.
Gardner is no longer backing away, no longer letting O'Leary walk him down. He is standing his ground and landing shots of his own.
With a minute to go in the round, O'Leary catches Gardner with a great shot that turns his legs to jelly! Gardner is in real trouble! He manages to dance backwards and stay on his feet until the bell.
What a change in the round! Gardner was in the middle of winning that round, and looking like he had O'Leary in a bit of bother, when suddenly that punch changed the complexion of the whole thing.
O'Leary comes out looking to end the round. He is standing and trying to load up on Gardner. For the first time, we see a few shots coming back from Gardner. Perhaps this is what he wanted, to stand still and trade.
As the action moves inside, with close clenches and nice uppercuts from Gardner, Pierce O'Leary sustains a cut over his left eye. The blood is pouring from that cut.
That was better from Gardner.
O'Leary has absolutely zero respect for Gardner, marching forward at will, throwing hands without much thought to what might come back. Because nothing so far has come back.
Unless Gardner gives him reason to respect him, O'Leary never will.
So far, Gardner has shown nothing to O'Leary to worry him. Every time O'Leary walks him down, rather than look for the counter, Gardner is just backing out of there.
O'Leary gets Gardner on the ropes and lands a beautiful shot to the ribs that clearly was felt by Gardner.
O'Leary stays on the attack and Gardner is respectful of his opponent's power.
O'Leary thinks that he has the measure of his man, while Gardner still looks wary, like he is trying to figure him out a little more before committing himself to an attack.
The champ gets Gardner on the ropes and makes a beautiful left shot to the body that came straight out of a Ricky Hatton playbook. Quick in, change the angle, and let your hands fly.
O'Leary comes out probing his man and Gardner seems content to stay on the outside.
O'Leary switches stances, now orthodox, now southpaw, and is coming forward with a bit of power in his punches.
Pierce O’Leary vs Kane Gardner (WBC international super-lightweight)
Next up is a tasty title fight between Dublin, Ireland’s undefeated Pierce O’Leary (12-0, 7 KOs) and England’s Kane Gardner (16-2, 7 KOs). O’Leary won the WBC title in November by dismantling Emmanuel Mungandjela before destroying Alin Florin Ciorceri in May in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in a bout that lasted only 71 seconds.
Zach Parker wins by TKO
Khalid Graidia's corner chooses not to send their man out for round eight. Zach Parker's corner were sure that Graidia's nose was broken, that may have been a factor.
But no matter the reason, Zach Parker has made a good start to his boxing comeback. He comprehensively ouboxed Graidia in every round.
Both fighters have slowed down a little, feeling the pace of these rounds. Parker is still putting on the better performance, but neither seems as keen to walk the other down as much as before.
Parker is now trying to step things up a gear and coming forward to land shots on Graidia. When his opponent steps forward, Parker backs out and switches stance.
Graidia has a tough chin, it has to be said. He has taken tons of punishment from Parker and keeps walking forward.
Parker opens the round with a peach of a left uppercut that catches Graidia flush. He takes it well and tries to come back into the fight but is warned for a low blow by the referee.
Parker is boxing Graidia's head off.
Graidia is coming forward recklessly and Parker is visibly growing in confidence. Counter punches are catching Graidia consistently.
The back half of the round slows down again, but the traffic is all one direction.
Parker has switched to an orthodox stance now and scores a few points before switching back to southpaw.
Graidia is perhaps a little perplexed and isn't taking advantage of the switch in styles.
Parker lands a great combination and the Frenchman covers up. Pushing the gears up a bit might get Parker the stoppage.
Graidia is marked up and bleeding from the nose as the round ends.
Parker is a natural orthodox fighter, but has been working southpaw tonight, trying to protect his hand. Even though it is not his natural side, Parker is looking sharp and quick.
Graidia is coming forward and throwing shots, but Parker is too quick, making him miss, and backing out of range.
Parker comes back for his first fight after breaking his hand in the John Ryder fight. Graidia comes out trying to give a bit of theatrics to the proceedings, wearing the same stars and stripes trunks as Apollo Creed from the movie Rocky.
Both men are looking to be somewhat cagey, but willing to probe for openings. Parker looks to be doing the better work, even if he is a little cautious with his hand.
Zach Parker vs Khalid Graidia (super-middleweight)
Now we have a 10 round super middleweight contest between England's Zach Parker and France's Khalid Graidia.
Royston Barney-Smith wins by UD
The referee Marcus McDonald scored it 60-52, giving every round to Barney-Smith to take his record to 7-0.
That was a dominant performance by the young Royston Barney-Smith, and while it is clear that he is a level above Gomez, this was a good learning experience for him.
The sixth and final round sees Gomez look like he simply cannot wait to get out of the ring. Barney-Smith is sticking to his gameplan, waiting for his man to walk forward and snapping that left out to catch him.
Barney-Smith has been working mostly behind the jab, throwing single shots with his left. They are quality but in this round he begins to put together combinations. Gomez is trying to come in and close that distance, but each time, Barney-Smith catches him with a counter.
Gomez comes out and throws a couple of right hands that find their mark, but Barney-Smith shows his hand speed in getting out of trouble, throwing a flurry of accurate combinations to back Gomez up.
A cracker of a left hook catches Gomez as he comes in, but fair play to the Nicaraguan, he takes it and the round ends on a nice counter by Barney-Smith.
Barney-Smith is keeping Gomez out of range and every time the Nicaraguan comes in for an attack, he is made to pay for it.
A minute into the round and a peach of a left hand sends Gomez flat onto his back. Again he recovers quickly, but he is in trouble here.
With less than a minute to go, Gomez manages to get Barney-Smith onto the ropes, which is what he needs to do. He has to find a way to close that distance and cut the Englishman off.
Gomez is looking tired as the round starts and is visibly slower on an already slow first.
A deleayed reaction to a body shot with a minute to go sees Gomez take a knee and take an eight count to catch his breath.
He recovers well, but the level is nowhere near Barney-Smith, who looks sharp and efficient with his punches.
Barney-Smith come out in his customary southpaw stance, finding accurate shots against his orthodox opponent Gomez. The more sharp looking work comes from the Brit, as he works at range and looks sharp. Gomez looks plodding and slow in his punches, although a fair amount are getting through.
Royston Barney-Smith vs Engel Gomez (super-featherweight)
We join the action live now with a six round contest at super featherweight between England's Royston Barney-Smith and Nicaragua's Engel Gomez.
Early undercard results
The early undercard is already underway here in London and the first fight saw Tommy Fletcher vs Alberto Tapia in a heavyweight bout which saw Tapia floored in the twice in the first round, once in the second, and once in the third before he was taking such punishment in the fourth that his corner threw in the towel.
This was followed by a light-heavyweight bout between Ezra Taylor vs Joel McIntyre which was a far more even-keeled contest. Scheduled for eight rounds, it was a back-and-forth war before Ezra Taylor hurt McIntyre in the waning seconds of the eighth round. The referee stepped in and stopped the contest with just seonds to go.
The Full Card
Zhilei Zhang vs Joe Joyce 2(WBO interim heavyweight title)
Pierce O’Leary vs Kane Gardner (WBC international super-lightweight)
Anthony Yarde vs Jorge Silva (light-heavyweight)
Sam Noakes vs Carlos Perez (lightweight)
Zach Parker vs Khalid Graidia (super-middleweight)
Ezra Taylor vs Joel McIntyre (light-heavyweight)
Royston Barney-Smith vs Engel Gomez (super-featherweight)
Moses Itauma vs Amine Boucetta (heavyweight)
Tommy Fletcher vs Alberto Tapia (heavyweight)
Tale of the tape
Joe Joyce
Age: 38
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 6ft 6in
Reach: 80”
Record: 15-1-0
Zhilei Zhang
Age: 40
Stance: Southpaw
Height: 6ft 6in
Reach: 80”
Record: 25-1-1
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The Brit confident he will reclaim the WBO heavyweight title after the shock loss to Zhilei Zhang, promising a war in London's Wembley Arena on Saturday.
Read it all here.
WELCOME!
Welcome to Diario AS USA’s live coverage of the heavyweight title rematch between Zhilei “Big Bang” Zhang vs. Joe “Juggernaut” Joyce, returning to Wembley Arena in London, England after the shocking sixth round stoppage here back in April.
Prior to their fateful meeting in April, Joe Joyce had his career mapped out. He was the WBO interim heavyweight champion and was in line to be that organization’s mandatory challenger for Oleksandr Usyk. At the same time, he was mid-stream on negotiations for an all-British title match with Tyson Fury.
And then his path crossed with Zhilei Zhang. The Chinese heavyweight known as “Big Bang” lived up to his moniker when he pounded Joyce’s right eye until it was swollen shut. Referee Howard foster had no choice but to call a halt to proceedings in the sixth round. In one fell swoop, Joyce saw his status as mandatory for Usyk, his potential bout with Fury, and his WBO title evaporate into thin air.
Neither fighter has backed down in the run up to this rematch. While Joyce has vowed to “take what’s mine,” Zhang has responded that he is “here to end your career.”
“For the first fight, you gave me the opportunity, but your team made a mistake in choosing me,” said 40-year-old Zhang. “Your team going for the rematch is a bigger mistake. I’m here to end your career."
The Chinese champion confirmed that he would target Joyce’s eye, now that it has shown to be vulnerable for him. “There is no question I will aim for the eye in the rematch.”
Joyce admitted that he had made errors in the first fight, errors that he claims to have addressed with changes to his training camp. “A lot of small changes make big differences.”
The main card is set to get underway at 2:30 pm ET / 11:30 am PT.