Zhang Vs. Joyce 2 Presser, Frank Warren Reacts

In heavyweight boxing news, Zhilei Zhang and Joe Joyce had their pre-fight presser as they got ready to face each other on September 23rd, 2023. 

The two boxers will run things back for the WBO heavyweight interim title, which Zhang picked up after stopping Joyce in the sixth round.

The manner of the performance was all the more impressive. Zhang continued to land his left hand from the southpaw stance, which caused the Brit’s eye to swell up.

As a result, the referee called off the bout. As such, Zhang took himself a step closer to facing Oleksandr Usyk provided that the mandatory is called.

And with the two fighters now entering towards the latter parts of their careers, they cannot afford to make a mistake. Joyce is 38-years-old, while Zhang is 40. And when it came to the presser, both fighters were ready to make a statement. 

Zhang’s Comments

“Me, personally, I still don’t trust the judging and I still don’t trust the referee. I have an issue with it because the last time one of the judges had Zhilei losing the fight and two others only had him winning by one round, by one point. To me, our only option here is for Zhilei to win by knockout. So, every single round we’re gonna be looking for a knockout. Be it early or late, we’re looking for a knockout coming into this fight. I don’t think we have any other choice but to knock Joe Joyce out, because I don’t think it’s gonna be fair. Frank Warren said it himself, that he wants everything in Joe Joyce’s favor. He said it in the first press conference to announce the fight,” Zhang’s trainer Shaun George

But when it comes to Joyce, the heavyweight was also looking to leave nothing to chance. In the first fight, Joyce entered the ring a lot lighter than he had been used to.

The perception was that Joyce would be more mobile and then tire out Zhang as the fight went on. Although that may have been the case, things worked in reverse.

Joyce’s punch power and resistance appeared noticeably a lot less as the heavy-handed Zhang continued to land. But now it seems that Joyce has made some changes in that regard. 

Joyce On Zhang

“[The weight] was the sole focus of the post fight comments so it was something that I needed to correct but it was amongst a lot more different things and different aspects of the camp that I needed to build on,” he said. “I’ve made sure that I’ve ticked every box. Crossed the t’s and dotted the i’s. And try to not get my eye blacked. I think there was moments in there where I was starting to get to work but the eye clearly was starting to close. I threw more punches but he kept hitting me with the more eye catching, heavier blows,” Joyce said

Those words were also echoed by Frank Warren, who was hoping to see Joyce enter the ring a lot heavier. In their first fight, Joyce came into the ring at 256 pounds. This was a staggering 15 pounds less than when he faced Joseph Parker as he knocked out the latter in the 11th round.

That was seen as one of Joyce’s most impressive wins in that he managed to last the course and finish off Parker in the later rounds, something even Anthony Joshua could not do. And given that Joyce’s style is based on coming forward with pressure, Warren wanted to see Joyce put on more mass. 

Warren Reacts

“I was quite shocked when they announced the weights [leading into the first fight]. Maybe they thought he was going to be more mobile. It didn’t work out. [Against] Joseph Parker, I thought that was a phenomenal performance. It was a good fight. Parker is one of the top heavyweights in the world and he done a job on him.

“So, I’m hoping this time around that he comes in around that weight again. That is his optimum weight, that’s the weight he boxes the best at. And hopefully we get the result on Saturday,” Warren stated