This is Rummy’s Corner.
I don’t know shit about boxing.
The big heavyweight showdown between Joe ‘The Juggernaut’ Joyce and Zhang ‘Big Bang’
Zhilei delivered.
Going into this one, most observers (myself included) figured that Joyce’s chin and
durability along with his superior stamina would be deciding factors in this one.
But Joyce’s superior conditioning never ultimately factored into this one.
Right out of the gate, Zhang was doing a terrific job parrying Joyce's jab.
Both boxers were pawing around and getting a feel for each other, and Zhang tested the
waters with a feeler straight left.
After more than a minute, Zhang began throwing and landing that booming left with more authority,
and this effectively became the story of the fight.
Zhang couldn’t miss with that left hand, and Joyce’s non-existent head movement wasn’t
doing him many favors.
In round 2 Zhang continued doing a good job parrying and deflecting the jab.
Joyce was trying to find a better groove, but Zhang continued drilling him with sharp
left hands, and he was beginning to mix in some right hands and also some body shots.
By the end of round 2, Joyce was already a little bloody and swollen, and Zhang had gotten
off to a terrific start to the contest.
Joyce came out in round 3 more active.
He wasn’t putting much behind the punches, but he was trying to keep his hands moving
to break Zhang’s rhythm and timing.
Joyce was trying to play to his strengths, where he is known for having a better gas
tank, and he was trying to win the round on activity.
Joyce was having a better round, but Zhang was still finding the mark with bigger and
better punches, despite throwing less.
Joyce continued trying to beat Zhang on activity in round 4, and unlike the previous round,
The Juggernaut was now beginning to throw with meaner intentions.
His punches were sharper, but for the most part Zhang was still dodging, deflecting,
and blocking much of the incoming fire.
Zhang was likewise continuing to find openings for his sharp left hand.
This trend continued into round 5, where Joyce was still trying his best to outwork Zhang
and slow him down with activity, but Zhang maintained his composure and continued nailing
the mark whenever he unloaded that mean left hand.
The right eye of Joyce was continuing to swell and shut because of the strong accurate lefts
from Big Bang Zhang.
With each big left, Joyce was having an even harder time seeing the punches with his eye
getting progressively worse.
Prior to the start of round 6, referee Howard Foster halted the action so the ringside physician
could check the eye of The Juggernaut.
His eye was nearly swollen shut, but he was allowed to continue.
This emboldened Zhang, and he was really loading up whenever he launched a lethal left.
There was a heightened sense of urgency for Joe Joyce, but Zhang continued doing his thing,
and he continued smashing Joyce’s eye with that powerful mean left.
Halfway through the round, Zhang landed a nasty barrage that prompted Foster to once
again halt the action, and this time the ringside physician didn’t like what he was seeing,
and Foster waved it off.
It was a 6th round technical knockout for Big Bang Zhang!
And this fight really shakes up the heavyweight landscape.
Going into this one, Joyce was the WBO interim champion.
It’s not a major belt or anything like that, but holding that belt, in theory at least,
put him in position as the WBO mandatory challenger.
Right now, the WBO champion is Oleksandr Usyk, who of course, is a unified three-belt champion,
currently in possession of the WBA and IBF along with the WBO.
So the WBO mandatory is on the backburner now anyway.
The WBA is up next in the so-called rotation, with Daniel Dubois as their mandatory, and
then I believe the IBF is next in the rotation, and Filip Hrgovic is their mandatory.
Hrgovic earned his mandatory status last August when he beat Zhang in a close and somewhat
controversial 12 round unanimous decision.
With Zhang turning 40 years old in a couple of weeks, time is not on his side here, despite
the tremendous victory against Joyce.
A lot of people viewed Joyce as the 3rd best heavyweight in the world right now, and at
worst he was viewed as a Top 5 guy.
No more!
In fairness to Joyce, he was trying his best and displaying heart and courage, but his
complete lack of defense made him a sitting duck for Zhang’s bludgeoning left.
At some point in round 2, the way Zhang couldn’t seem to miss with that left hand reminded
me an awful lot of the way Corrie Sanders, another big powerful speedy southpaw, effortlessly
blasted out young Wladimir Klitschko way back in 2003.
Joyce was having a hard enough time seeing that left hand when he had two good eyes,
but as his eye became more and more damaged, and as his visibility quickly diminished,
it was target practice for Zhang, who remained patient and never overextended as he methodically
took care of business.
Both boxers deserve credit for taking this match.
Joyce could have easily feasted on soft touches to sit on his mandatory spot, but to his credit,
he decided to continue seeking out tough opposition, and the decision (while sound in theory) backfired
on him in a major career setback, especially since he is no spring chicken himself.
As for Zhang, with this impressive victory combined with the fact that many observers
believe he deserved the nod against Hrgovic, Zhang now finds himself in the same type of
dilemma Joyce was just in.
At his age, if he sits on the mandatory spot, facing a soft touch every now and again while
he waits, it won’t do him much good in preparation for the day he perhaps does get a title shot.
In that sense, the best course of action for Zhang will be to continue fighting (and ideally
winning) against top level opposition.
But then just one loss could flip the script and blow the opportunity - exactly like what
just happened to Joyce.
Then in addition to the alphabet soup rotation, where Dubois is theoretically up next for
the WBA, and then Hrgovic for the IBF, and now presumably Zhang for the WBO - the bigger
obstacle is the potential for an undisputed showdown between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr
Usyk, which would likely be, at minimum, a two-fight obligation.
In that sense, it may be 4 or 5 fights down the line at the earliest before Zhang ever
gets a shot, if he eventually gets one at all.
With top heavyweights only fighting twice a year, or often only once a year - that doesn’t
bode well for 40 year old Big Bang Zhang.
So looking at things from that perspective, Zhang’s best bet might be looking for the
biggest potential paydays he can land, try his best to keep on winning, and let the chips
fall where they may.
At the end of the day it was an outstanding performance from Zhang, and it definitely
shook up the heavyweight landscape in a profound way that not too many were expecting.
Especially not ME, but then again, I ain’t exactly Quasimodo over here, and I don’t
know shit about boxing, as proven once again, this time by Zhang.
Congratulations to Big Bang Zhang on the tremendous victory, and credit to Joyce for taking on
a tough challenge when he could have gone a safer path.
Whatever happens, I look forward to seeing where both of these guys go from here, be
it a rematch or another direction.
And hopefully this can help build some momentum in the heavyweight division, where there are
a lot of potentially awesome fights that might come together.
So what did you think of Big Bang Zhang’s victory against The Juggernaut?
Please share your thoughts in the comment section.
Thank you very much for watching everyone, I hope you enjoyed, and have a wonderful night.
This is Rummy’s Corner.