Veteran British heavyweight, Derek Chisora, has weighed in with his opinion on the highly anticipated rematch between Joe Joyce and Zhilei Zhang.
Zhang ripped up the script back in April when he upset the odds to beat Joyce for the first time in his career. That night the giant Chinese heavyweight couldn’t miss with his straight left which caused Joyce’s eye to swell shut and give the referee no option but to wave the fight off in the sixth round.
With that defeat “The Juggernaut” lost his WBO interim title and his place in line to face current champion, Oleksandr Usyk.
After some debate as to whether Joyce would activate his contractual rematch clause, the Brit confirmed he had and the two will run it back later this month.
Speaking to Seconds Out, Chisora predicts the fight will not go the distance and the outcome will all depend on Joyce’s strategy. If the 37-year-old puts it’s on Zhang from the outset then ‘Del Boy’ is confident the result can be reversed.
“Joe Joyce can win this fight by training for 4, 5, 6 rounds coming in and blasting Zhang out, he’ll win the fight by knockout.”
However, Chisora doubts Joyce’s eye has fully healed from the first encounter and believes if he gives Zhang time to ease into the contest then it’ll be the same result.
“If Joyce warms up with Zhang and Zhang finds that jab to his eyeball socket then he’s f**ked basically, his eye hasn’t healed. He’s f**ked.”
Zhilei Zhang vs Joe Joyce takes place on Saturday, September 23 at the OVO Arena in London and will be broadcast live on TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport).