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| Date | 15 April 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Copper Box Arena, Hackney Wick, London, UK | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBO interim heavyweight title | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zhang defeated Joyce Via Round 6 TKO. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Joe Joyce vs. Zhilei Zhang was a professional boxing match contested on for the WBO interim heavyweight title. [1] [2]
Joe Joyce won the WBO Interim World Heavyweight title in a September 2022 bout against Joseph Parker. [1] Zhang's last bout before facing Joyce was in August 2022 when he suffered his first loss to Croatian Filip Hrgović, after a close-fought battle where he lost by unanimous decision in what was described as a "generous" decision by broadcaster Sky Sports after a "bizarre" performance by Hrgović. [3] [4] [1]
The bout was held at the Copper Box Arena in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on 15 April 2023. [1] [2] [5]
Repeated heavy shots from Zhang caused swelling above Joyce's right eye causing the fight to be stopped following an inspection by ringside doctor after the 6th round, [6] giving Zhang a technical knockout victory. [7] [8]
Following Zhang's victory, reports stated that a bout between himself and Tyson Fury were being discussed. [9] On 29 June an immediate rematch was announced for 23 September at Wembley Arena in London, England for the same title. [10] Tyson Fury took to social media to offer Joyce sparring following the announcement. [11]
| Weight Class | vs. | Method | Round | Time | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavyweight | Zhilei Zhang | def. | Joe Joyce (c) | TKO | 6/12 | 1:23 | Note 1 |
| Lightweight | Mikaela Mayer | def. | Lucy Wildheart | UD | 10 | Note 2 | |
| Heavyweight | Moses Itauma | def. | Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko | UD | 6 | ||
| Lightweight | Sam Noakes (c) | def. | Karthik Sathish | TKO | 2/12 | 1:17 | Note 3 |
| Middleweight | Denzel Bentley | def. | Kieran Smith | KO | 1/12 | 0:45 | Note 4 |
| Welterweight | Eithan James | def. | Georgi Velichkov | PTS | 6 | ||
| Super-lightweight | Sonny Ali | def. | Richard Helm | PTS | 6 | ||
| Light-heavyweight | Seth Gyimah | def. | Darryl Sharp | PTS | 4 | ||
| Middleweight | Joel Kodua | def. | Dale Arrowsmith | PTS | 4 | ||
^Note 1 For WBO interim heavyweight title
^Note 2 For vacant WBC interim lightweight title
^Note 3 For Commonwealth Boxing Council and WBC International Silver lightweight titles
^Note 4 For British middleweight title
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | BT Sport |
 United States | ESPN+ |
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