Veteran British heavyweight, Derek Chisor,a has advised Joe Joyce not to take his scheduled rematch with China’s Zhilei Zhang on September 23 at Wembley Arena, claiming that the eye injury Jocye suffered in the first fight will not have healed in time.
‘Big Bang’ Zhang upset ‘The Juggernaut’ Joyce when he stopped the Londoner back in April.
It was Joyce’s first professional defeat and came at the hands of heavy blows from Zhang who targeted the right eye. It eventually swelled shut and the referee was forced to stop the fight after an intervention from the ringside doctor.
With the win, the 6ft6 Zhang, an Olympic silver medallist like Joyce, took the WBO interim heavyweight title but Joyce quickly triggered his contractual right to a rematch.
Speaking to Boxing News, Chisora was asked if Joyce could adjust for the second fight.
“If he don’t he’ll get f***ed up, that’s the simplest thing. Before that Zhang fight he came out BT and was like ‘I use my head then people don’t know I’m still there, I’m still boxing,’ and I was like this guy is an idiot. Move your f**king head. Stay away from everything. You don’t have to use your head for protection.
If I was Zhang I would come out in the rematch and hit the same eye again cause that eye is not healed. It will be the same outcome. That eye’s not healed. He should move on. He should let Zhang move on.”
At the press conference for the Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte rematch, Chisora announced he will be retiring to the ring on the undercard at the O2 in London on August 12.