Slimline Joe Joyce enters via a STONE lighter for Saturday’s clash against Zhilei Zhang as ‘The Juggernaut’ looks one step closer to a world title
- Joe Joyce, 37, returns to the ring on Saturday night to fight Zhilei Zhang
- Joyce weighed in at 256 pounds on Friday, while the Southpaw weighed in at 278 pounds
- The ‘Juggernaut’ goes into Saturday’s fight with a record 15 wins, 14 KOs
Joe Joyce showed a dramatic weight loss at Friday’s weigh-in as he tipped the scales a stone lighter than his previous fight ahead of Saturday’s match against Zhilei Zhang at London’s Copper Box Arena.
Joyce, a 2016 Olympic silver medalist, weighed in at 256 pounds before his heavyweight bout with the Chinese southpaw, while Zhang tipped the scales at 278 pounds for the bout.
Joyce, who was visibly thinner when he took the stage, comes in 20 pounds lighter than his fight with Joseph Parker – and then weighs in at 271.6 pounds, six pounds heavier than his fight with Christian Hammer before.
Joyce – who established herself as the mandatory challenger of the WBO – will try to take one step closer to clashing with current champion Oleksandr Usyk by beating Zhang.
The ‘Juggernaut’ goes into Saturday’s fight with a record of 15 wins, 14 of them knockouts. However, Zhang says Joyce’s record doesn’t deter him for this weekend’s game.
Joe Joyce (left) has fallen over a rock ahead of Saturday’s clash against Zhilei Zhang (right)
Joyce puts his WBO Interim World Heavyweight title on the line at the Copper Box Arena
“To be the best, you have to beat the best,” said Zhang Sky Sports earlier in the week. “This is part of the dream of becoming world champion. “I never shy away from a challenge when an opportunity presents itself.”
The Chinese southpaw went on to discuss Joyce’s durable chin, saying, “I don’t believe a fighter’s chin can be strong enough to take a perfectly timed punch.”
Meanwhile, Joyce described his fight with Zhang as “risky,” but insisted it was an important fight on his journey to securing a heavyweight title fight against either Usyk or Tyson Fury later this year.
The 37-year-old British boxer told Sky Sports: “It’s a risky fight, but it’s exciting. He’s a big guy. But I’m a big guy. Two big guys are going to collide and it’s going to be a great fight.
“I could have waited and had an easier fight, but I thought, ‘why not take a test and stay ready?’ He’s a top fighter… and this leads me nicely to Usyk or Fury, which is what I’m hoping for – a big summer fight, possibly.’