Joyce looks exciting in American debut
In a heavyweight clash we had the ambitious Joe Joyce vs Iago Kiladze. The British prospect looked to make his American television debut an exciting one!
Early on the favorite started aggressively behind his jab walking down Kiladze. His trainer, Abel Sanchez, proclaimed the night would end on an early knockout.
Thirty two seconds into the second round he scored a knockdown off a jab, straight right hand combination. After the knockdown, he got a little wild and smothered his punches. He then composed himself and began to land in the final minute of the round.
In round three, Joyce showed great composure staying behind his jab and cleverly picking his shots. It paid off with a knockdown in the final minute of the round. Kiladze,however, got up and survived the round.
At the start of round four, Joyce showed even more craft. He successfully cutoff the ring and steadily maneuvered Kiladze to the ropes. He also showed great patience with his crafty shot selection.
In the last 20 seconds, it appeared the popular heavyweight may stop Kiladze with a barrage of punches, however, time expired first.
Going into round five, Sanchez encouraged Joyce to look for the righthand. It turned out to be the correct suggestion as Joyce immediately stopped Kiladze with a knockdown. His opponent beat the count, but spit out his mouthpiece and retreated to his corner ending the fight.
The 2016 Olympian improves to a perfect record of 6-0 with 6 knockouts. He has expressed previously wanted the best in the division soon!
By: Corey Cunningham
