In a highly anticipated heavyweight bout, Zhilei Zhang (25-1-1, 20 KOs) caused a huge upset by forcing Joe Joyce (15-1, 14 KOs) out of the fight with an eye injury following six rounds of fighting on Saturday in London.
Joyce’s eye was so damaged that the doctor in charge of supervising the fight decided to terminate it.
Zhang hammered Joyce with his direct from the 2nd round. The apparent damage to Joyce’s eye gradually increased to the point where it was completely closed.
It’s Joyce’s first professional loss, while for Zhang it’s the perfect response following his first career loss, a controversial decision to Filip Hrgovic in an IBF playoff bout last August.
The Chinese Zhang thus seizes the interim WBO heavyweight belt and he becomes the obligatory contender for the WBA, IBF and WBO titles of Oleksandr Usyk.
