Joe Joyce Plans to Return After Recovering from Zhang KO Loss
When last in the ring, heavyweight contender Joe “Juggernaut” Joyce (15-2, 14 KO’s) was seeking revenge on Zhilei “Big Bang” Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KO’s). That mission could not have gone any more disastrously. Instead of going nine rounds and being stopped due to swelling, Juggernaut was cleanly knocked out in three short rounds. For many, this second defeat at the hand of the Chinese boxer signaled the death knell of his career.
This assumption should not come as such a great shock. Following his premiere loss to Zhang, many openly speculated that this was the end of Joyce’s professional fighting. Yet, as he shared with Seconds Out, Juggernaut does not harbor these same thoughts or feelings.
“It’s a sport at the end of the day and he was the better man on the night, so I am going to rebuild and come back . . . I’m just going to talk to my team and see what is the best route back in there. Have a bit of a holiday, take a bit of time off, then come back. You know I am still enjoying myself, I enjoyed the fight even though I lost, but that’s what happens in sport.”
FIGHT OR FLEE?
Considering the fact that he has every intention of continuing to fight for pay, it will be interesting to see who Joyce contracts his next duel with. Will he take on a softer touch to get his feet wet and back in the win column? Or, will Juggernaut jump right back in the deep end and face one of the tougher, more seasoned heavyweights in the division?
No matter what he opts to do, it will be a very crucial decision. No matter how laid back Joyce is about the situation, suffering a third consecutive loss would be catastrophic to any notion of competing for a world title. Even more detrimental is his rather advanced age of 38. At almost 40 years of age, Juggernaut does not have any time to squander on any further losses. So let’s stay tuned and see what Joyce has up his sleeve for his next move.
