Joe Joyce stopped in Russia, suffers third straight loss

Joe Joyce was stopped in eleven rounds by Artem Suslenkov in Russia over the weekend, his third consecutive defeat and fifth loss in his last six outings.

The 40-year-old former interim heavyweight champion fell to 16-5 with the loss, which Bad Left Hook described as another sign that Joyce is "clearly overcooked as a professional fighter." Three of those five recent losses have come by knockout, a stark reversal for a man once known as an iron-chinned pressure fighter.

Joyce's Slide Since Zhang Losses

Joyce's decline accelerated after back-to-back stoppage defeats to Zhilei Zhang in 2023. He managed a win over Kash Ali between those Zhang fights and his subsequent decision loss to Derek Chisora, but the armor had cracked. A unanimous decision defeat to Filip Hrgovic followed in April 2025, and now the Suslenkov result in Russia.

The come-forward style that made Joyce dangerous depended on his ability to absorb punishment, and once that durability eroded, he had no evasive skills to fall back on. Joyce has not announced his retirement, but the path forward looks grim.

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• Bad Left Hook — Joe Joyce suffers latest career setback, gets stopped in Russia