The Monday LunchBox

Zhang v Joyce II – Five things we learned

1. The heavyweight division remains no place for porosity – If you’re going to walk in straight lines to a fighter with no lateral movement, drop your hands in exchanges or, get careless in any way then, the heavyweight division is the wrong place to be. No more was this true than on Saturday night at the London Wembley Arena. Heavyweight contender Joe Joyce was poleaxed with a right hook by Zhilei Zhang towards the end of round 3. It had shades of similar episodes at the same venue many moons ago when fellow Brit’s Frank Bruno and Lennox Lewis were equally flattened by James ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith and Oliver McCall respectively. Both of those came again to win or regain world titles. In the lighter weights you can almost get away with a porous defence, but such is the concussive impact of a heavyweight (both came in over 20 stones (280+ lbs) that the end was inevitable. Joyce, was basically ‘too open’ and has been for the whole of his professional career.
2. Joyce’s chin is no longer impregnable – Joe’s famed punch resistance allied with his walk forward style was good to watch as he prevailed over lesser talented fighters and backed up his ‘Juggernaut’ nickname. The detonation on his jaw and subsequent result Saturday night proved that his previous impregnation is denuding. True, that shot would have poleaxed most heavyweights, with equal effect but, the best heavyweights over the last 50 years would have risen from it. Think Muhammad Ali when floored by Joe Frazier in ‘The Fight’ of 1971 and then into the 1980’s Larry Holmes rising from the bazooka of Earnie Shavers.
3. Speed was again the winner – That Zhang was able to land the right hook and over the shared nine rounds over two contests against Joyce, by his repetitive success with his southpaw jab and follow up blows was a testament to the adage that ‘speed kills’. In boxing faster hands than your opponent are a significant advantage. When this is so obvious as it was on Saturday and is backed up by the pedigree of the opponent (Zhang being a 2008 Olympic medallist and therefore elite amateur) plus having only one defeat as a professional, then it is a lethal cocktail for his opponent.
4. The Brit returns to domestic dust ups and should consider retirement – Given the later success mentioned under point 2 of Frank Bruno and Lennox Lewis and many other fighters it might be foolhardy to suggest Joyce calls it a day. Retirement talk and subsequent closure of a career is a difficult pill to swallow. Heavyweights certainly do go on longer than the lighter weight fighters, but Joe has just turned 38 years old and it’s whether he really has more or better to offer. We suggested pre-fight that his ability to learn from a boxing perspective and change type may be limited. He will always try to bludgeon his way to victory and although showed a bit more movement than in earlier fights he should in our view consider calling it a day. He was though adamant post-fight that this wasn’t the end.
5. Anyone for a world heavyweight title fight in China ? The People’s Republic of China has at last count a population exceeding 4 billion. They have never had a World Heavyweight Champion or even witnessed one fighting for a professional heavyweight title. Zhang is ranked in the top six heavyweights in the world, whatever listings you tend to believe. China is a big market for any promoter, television network or sanctioning body. An event involving him would be colossal. Queensberry Promotion’s Frank Warren is already calling out for a Tyson Fury versus Zhang fight. The numbers generated would be phenomenal. More importantly, Zhang is 40 years old and deserves a shot. If Fury is not prepared to meet him for whatever reason then Oleksandr Usyk should be mandated to. The Chinese right to bid for the next World Heavyweight Champion is now !