Joe Joyce is looking to put a difficult 2023 behind him when he returns to the ring against Kash Ali – a heavyweight who has previously been disqualified for biting his opponent.
Back in March of 2019, heavyweight prospect Ali grew so frustrated during a contest with David Price that he repeatedly bit the big-hitting Liverpudlian. Eventually, in the fifth round, the fight was stopped and Ali was disqualified which led the British Boxing Board of Control to withhold his purse and then suspend his license pending a hearing. He was handed a six-month ban and a £10,000 fine.
Biting in the ring is a rare occurrence in the ring, though there is one infamous example of it from 1997 when Mike Tyson, annoyed at what he believed to be intentional head-butting from Evander Holyfield, took a lump out of the heavyweight’s ear in Las Vegas.
Joyce, who twice lost by knockout to Chinese puncher Zhilei Zhang lost year, faces Ali on March 16 and was asked by Queensbury how he has got himself ready for the contest.
“I’ve been watching Resident Evil films to prepare myself.”
He laster asked if Ali wears “a muzzle” and was asked how he would react if he was bitten.
“I dunno, tooth for a tooth maybe? He’s a decent-level opponent, he’s going to bring some challenges. It’s my first fight of the year so I need to be switched on. It’ll be good to get back in the ring, beat him and go on to other things.”
A week before his fight, two of Joyce’s former opponents face off in Zhang and Joe Parker as the heavyweight division continues to move at a quicker pace than it has in years.