Joe Joyce battles Zhilei Zhang this evening looking to secure a huge heavyweight fight against the likes of Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua.
While boxing’s most glamorous division has seemingly backed up of late with major bouts simply not being made, Joyce is quickly shooting up the rankings and now has the WBO interim belt.
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The 37-year-old’s gruelling late destruction of former world champion Joseph Parker in September was his most impressive result yet and put him well in the picture for a run at Fury, Oleksandr Usyk or Joshua. Still, Londoner Joyce needs to do more talking inside the ring.
For all the talk of a potential clash with some of the sport’s biggest names, Zhang is a dangerous opponent to overcome. The towering Chinese southpaw, 39, was perhaps unlucky not to have been awarded the decision against IBF no1 contender Filip Hrgovic last summer and like Joyce is an Olympic silver medalist.
A true explosive heavyweight meeting while the rest of the division works itself out of a damaging logjam, here’s everything you need to know about the fight this weekend.
Joyce vs Zhang date, start time, venue and ring walks
Joyce vs Zhang takes place on tonight, Saturday April 15, 2023 inside the Copper Box Arena in Stratford in east London.
The early undercard gets underway at 5pm BST before the main event ring walks are scheduled for around 10.30pm.
Those timings, however, are subject to change depending on the length of the undercard fights.
Joyce vs Zhang fight card/undercard in full
Mikaela Mayer saw her fight with Christina Linardatou called off on Friday after the latter was denied a license by the British Boxing Board of Control due to her pre-fight eye exam. Lucy Wildheart has taken the fight at short notice instead.
Elsewhere, Denzel Bentley meets Kieran Smith for the British middleweight title and exciting heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma makes a swift return to action, along with Sam Noakes.
Joe Joyce vs Zhilei Zhang
Denzel Bentley vs Kieran Smith
Mikaela Mayer vs Lucy Wildheart
Sam Noakes vs Karthik Sathish Kumar
Sonny Ali vs Richard Helm
Eithan James vs Georgi Velichkov
Moses Itauma vs Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko
Seth Gyimah vs Darryl Sharp
Joel Kodua vs Dale Arrowsmith
How to watch Joyce vs Zhang
TV channel: In the UK, tonight’s entire event will be broadcast live on BT Sport 1 and BT Sport Ultimate, with coverage of the main undercard beginning at 7pm.
Live stream: BT Sport subscribers will also be able to stream live online via the BT Sport website or app.
LIVE coverage: Follow all the action on fight night with Standard Sport’s live blog.
Joyce vs Zhang fight prediction
Skilled southpaw Zhang, though nearing 40, will not be an easy man to dispose of and certainly packs a spiteful punch.
Still, Joyce is looking nothing short of unstoppable right now. Parker hit him with all he had and ‘The Juggernaut’ simply walked through it all with relative ease and a granite chin.
In fine fettle and having shown an ability to go into the deeper rounds, the huge-hitting Joyce cannot be overlooked and is a clear favourite for a reason.
Joyce to win via late knockout.
Joyce vs Zhang weigh-in results
Joyce was considerably lighter than expected at Friday’s weigh-in, tipping the scales at 256lbs (18st 2lbs) - his lowest weight since beating Bryant Jennings back in 2019.
It is a stone less than he weighed for the win over Parker in September. The giant Zhang, meanwhile, weighed in at 278lbs - almost 20st.
“I don’t know what’s happened. It just seems to have fallen off,” Joyce said of his weight loss. “I’ve been disciplined. This is the business end of my career so I need to get things right.”
Joyce vs Zhang betting odds
Joyce to win: 1/10
Zhang to win: 11/2
Draw: 25/1
Joyce to win by KO or TKO: 1/3
Joyce to win by decision or technical decision: 9/2
Zhang to win by KO or TKO: 10/1
Zhang to win by decision or technical decision: 12/1
