Zhilei Zhang caused a huge heavyweight upset last night when he stopped Joe Joyce to become the WBO interim champion.
Joyce went into the fight as the heavy favourite, with many feeling his gas tank and relentless pressure would be too much for the 39 year-old Zhang.
But ‘Big Bang’ wasn’t in London for a final farewell, and had Joyce in all sorts of trouble from the first bell. ‘The Juggernaut’ couldn’t get out the way of Zhang’s southpaw left hand and was getting hit with almost everything the Chinese heavyweight threw.
Joyce’s right eye started to swell almost immediately and eventually got so bad that the doctor and referee had no choice but to wave off the fight in the sixth round.
The Brit has the option of an immediate rematch but hinted in his post-fight interview that he may take a fight in-between and, based on the performance, that might be advisable.
Zhang on the other hand will be looking to get his hands on a world title – and he knows who he wants and where he wants it.
Speaking to Boxing Social after getting the victory, Zhang said:
“Tyson Fury in China.”
When speaking to iFL TV, the giant heavyweight believes Fury would go down if hit with the same shots Joyce was.
“I wasn’t 100% targeting Joe’s eye area. I was targeting his chin. I wanted to test his chin, but it went to his eye, so that’s what happened. Fury, he doesn’t have that chin. He will go down.”
Tyson Fury has been quiet since the collapse of the undisputed fight against Oleksandr Usyk, but had been linked to a summer fight against Joe Joyce at Wembley. That’s now dead in the water but could he be heading to China instead?