Joe Joyce suffered his second defeat in a row to Zhilei Zhang, this time ending the contest slumped forward on the canvas.
It was a jarring sight to see the Brit with the famed chin put out with a perfect right hook thrown in the third.
Zhang won the rematch in half the time it took him in the first fight, cementing himself as the WBO Interim Champion and a man who simply has Joyce’s number.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Carl Froch summarised that ‘The Juggernaut’ just wasn’t at the races.
“There was no ambition. He wasn’t in any rush to let his shots go. Is that cause he was just being cautious? Or is he worried about getting clipped? I think it was the latter. In round two he got clipped with a shot, a left cross from Zhang, and he was badly hurt, shook to his boots.”
“Zhang knew he could hurt Joe Joyce, and he came out in round three, took his time, waited, got himself in range … when the finish came, it came in a devastating fashion. Zhang landed a lovely left cross straight on the chin of Joyce and then the right hook from the southpaw stance clipped him on the bottom of the chin and just crumbled Joe Joyce to the ground.”
Froch went on to say that the most realistic option he can see now is retirement, other than a potential rematch with Daniel Dubois.
“Joe Joyce, unfortunately at 38-years-old, where does he go from here? What does he do now? Back to back devastating defeats, and that knockout there I just don’t think he’s going to be able to do anything.
Daniel Dubois may call him out … but I just think Joyce has got nowhere to go, and does he actually want to go anywhere in the pro game? At this stage of his career, at this time of his life, and that last defeat just there was absolutely crushing. I just think that could be the end of him. It’s sad to say, because I think Joe Joyce has been swerved by a lot of opponents.”