Heavyweight Joe Joyce (16-2, 15KOs) bounced again from consecutive early defeats in 2023 to Zhilei Zhang (26-2-1, 21KOs) with a Tenth-round stoppage of Kash Ali (21-2, 12KOs) in Birmingham.
Joyce toiled for a number of rounds earlier than ending the competition strongly. The previous Olympic silver medalist upped his workrate and started throwing and touchdown mixtures to implement his will on Ali. Joyce then scored with a strong proper hook, closely dropping the Yorkshire-based fighter to the canvas. Regardless of Ali rising, referee Kevin Parker counted Ali out with solely seven seconds of the 10-round combat remaining.
Talking to talkSport, Joyce reiterated his ambitions to be seen as among the finest heavyweight fighters on this planet, hinting at rematches with Joseph Parker, Zhang and Daniel Dubois in 2024.
“I wish to be among the finest heavyweights on this planet, and I’m proper there once more,” Joyce stated.
“I’m up for all these large fights. Clearly, there are some rematches [Parker, Zhang and Dubois] and a few of these fights have to occur, however I’m coming for all of them.
“We’ll see about any alternatives in Saudi Arabia. Right here within the UK and America, the world is my oyster, particularly as a heavyweight. I’m actually excited to get these large combat nights.”
Joyce can be open to combat within the upcoming 5v5 occasion between Matchroom Boxing and Queensberry Promotions, set to happen on June 1 because the undercard to the long-awaited light-heavyweight blockbuster between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitri Bivol in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Nevertheless, Joyce, now 38, says his purpose for the 12 months is to be extra energetic as he begins to rebuild his profession following his shattering defeats to Zhang.
“I’m up for getting in once more, being extra energetic this 12 months and giving some large, entertaining fights,” stated Joyce.
