Who won Joyce vs Zhang?
Zhilei Zhang beat Joe Joyce by technical knockout in the 6th round on Saturday 15th April 2023 at Copper Box Arena in London.
The fight was scheduled to take place over 12 rounds in the Heavyweight division, which meant there was no weight limit.
This contest was for the WBO heavyweight championship of the world.
Also, on the undercard Denzel Bentley was victorious over Kieran Smith for the BBBOC British Middleweight championship, Mikaela Mayer beat Lucy Wildheart and Sam Noakes defeated Karthik Sathish Kumar for the CBC Commonwealth Lightweight title.
Joyce vs Zhang stats
Back in April 2023, Joe Joyce stepped into the ring with an undefeated record of 15 wins, zero loses and 0 draws.
Zhilei Zhang made his way to the ring with a record of 24 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw.
Joe Joyce was the younger man by 2 years, at 37 years old.
Joyce had 2-inch reach advantage.
Joe Joyce fought out of the orthodox stance, while Zhilei Zhang was a southpaw.
Joyce was the less experienced professional fighter, having had 11 less fights, and made his debut in 2017, 3 year and 2 months later than Zhang, whose first professional fight was in 2014. He had fought 12 less professional rounds, 93 to Zhang's 105.
Zhilei Zhang was ranked number 13 by the WBO in the 201lb division.
Joyce vs Zhang form
Joe Joyce had stopped all of his last 5 opponents.
In his last fight before this contest, he had beat Joseph Parker on 24th September 2022 by knockout in the 11th round in their WBO Interim World Heavyweight championship fight at AO Arena, Manchester, United Kingdom.
Previous to that, he had beat Christian Hammer on 2nd July 2022 by technical knockout in the 4th round at Wembley Arena, London.
Going into that contest, he had won against Carlos Takam on 24th July 2021 by technical knockout in the 6th round at SSE Arena, Wembley, London.
Before that, he had beat Daniel Dubois on 28th November 2020 by knockout in the 10th round in their CBC Commonwealth Heavyweight championship fight at Church House, London.
He had defeated Michael Wallisch on 25th July 2020 by technical knockout in the 3rd round at BT Sport Studio, London.
Zhilei Zhang had stopped 3 of his last 5 opponents.
In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Filip Hrgovic on 20th August 2022 by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest at Jeddah Superdome, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Previous to that, he had won against Scott Alexander on 7th May 2022 by knockout in the 1st round at T-Mobile Arena, Nevada, United States.
Going into that contest, he had defeated Craig Lewis on 27th November 2021 by technical knockout in the 2nd round at Madison Square Garden Theater, New York.
Before that, he had drawn with Jerry Forrest on 27th February 2021 by majority draw in their 10 round contest at Hard Rock Stadium, Florida.
He had beat Devin Vargas on 7th November 2020 by knockout in the 4th round at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Florida.
Activity check
In terms of activity leading into the fight, Zhilei Zhang had been fighting more than Joe Joyce.
Going to this contest, Joe Joyce had last fought 6 months and 22 days ago, while Zhilei Zhang's last outing had been 7 months and 26 days ago.
Joyce's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 8 months and 21 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 6 months and 17 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 34 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 6.8 rounds on average.
Zhang's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 5 months and 8 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 5 months and 26 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 29 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 5.8 rounds on average.
What time did Joyce vs Zhang start?
The fighters were expected to ringwalk at around 10:00 PM BST at Copper Box Arena, London, United Kingdom, which was 5:00 PM EST or 2:00 PM PST on the West Coast of America.
Who broadcast Joyce vs Zhang?
The ESPN+ show is expected to begin at 3:00 PM EST / 12:00 PM PST. The BT Sport 1 broadcast of the card is expected to start at 7:00 PM (BTS).
What were the odds on Joyce vs Zhang?
Joe Joyce was a 1/10 (-830) favourite going into the contest, while Zhilei Zhang made his way into the ring at 6/1 (+540) with oddsmakers.
