Glove2Face

Earlier today Joe Joyce climbed back in the ring against Zhilei Zhang to avenge the stoppage defeat he suffered back on April 15th, with hopes of righting his wrongs. It was his first loss, so wanting to climb back on that horse is common, but this particular rematch seemed pointless when I heard it was made.

I’m all for climbing back on that horse, and I’m not saying in any shape or form that Joyce shouldn’t have made this decision based off the outcome of their last encounter, I’m saying, his corner should’ve known that this was not a good situation for their fighter to go back into.

If you seen the first fight, and analyzed it the way I did, you would’ve easily seen that it was a mismatch and the TKO stoppage was a best-case scenario ending; he could’ve easily been knocked out cold if his face wasn’t capable of taking so much of a beating.

If you didn’t see the rematch, Joyce was the same fighter he was in the first fight and didn’t seem to have any new tricks or strategies; if he did, he forgot them as soon as he got punched in the face.

The fight ended in the 3rd round after Zhang connected with a devastating straight right that put the Juggernaut down HARD!!!

I’m not meaning to kick a man when he’s down, or make light of the severity of being on the wrong end of a brutal knockout, but this could’ve/should’ve been avoided. There was no way in my mind that Joyce could’ve won this fight simply because his style is tailor made for Zhang and anybody like Zhang; accurate long-range attacks, a combo puncher, has knee buckling power, stalks with confidence, killer instinct, etc.…

I hope this fight opens the eyes of his team to the realization of the importance of realistic matchmaking. Joe can still have a career in the sport and have some success, but not against that type of fighter because his skills are limited.

If you read my article after the first fight, What can I say about Joe Joyce?, then you already know what I think about Joyce’s style; It’s entertaining as hell, but it takes a tole on the fighter and can lead to health issues in the long run.

I’m hoping Joyce can recoup and have as much success as he can, in or out of the ring, with minimal life changing injuries that affect his life after boxing.

Some rematch clauses should be disregarded, but I know it’s hard for a warrior with a huge ego to walk away from it, which is why every fighter should make sure they have a team that has their all-around well-being as their top priority.