There continues to be plenty of fallout from Joe Joyce’s loss to Zhilei Zhang in August. Now, his promoter Frank Warren has described the comments of Tony Bellew as ‘disrespectful and rude’ but said ‘nobody takes him seriously.’
After Joyce took his second knockout loss to Zhang in a quicker fashion than the first time round, Bellew claimed the Olympic Silver Medalist was no longer at the British level if his formerly famous punch resistance has now all but left him.
Speaking to Boxing Social, Warren explained why he thinks the comments are unfair.
“I just thought it was so rude and disrespectful. Joe’s done it at the Olympic level. He got robbed in the Olympic games. What [Bellew]’s saying now, he wasn’t saying before the Zhang fight.”
Warren then spoke of Joyce’s previous fights as evidence that he is a top-level contender.
“Look he beat a fighter, stopped a fighter in Joe Parker that has never been on the floor before. He was a real tough competitor. He put him on the floor and knocked him out. He done what nobody else has done in the heavyweight division. So it’s very disrespectful to jump on the bandwagon.”
He then claimed that Bellew’s association with DAZN – a rival broadcaster to Warren’s partner, TNT Sports – meant he would always side with fighters on that channel and dismiss all others.
“If you’re on DAZN and you’re with Matchroom and you get beat, you’re a great fighter, you’ll come back. And if you’re with us, then you’re not a good fighter.”
“His mentality is disingenuous, so at the end of the day who gives a flying toss what he has to say? No one takes him seriously.”
Post-fight, Joyce confirmed that he would fight on. There has so far been no news as to his route back to the top.
