Joseph Obey Joyce vs. Zhāng Zhìlěi & Denzel Bentley vs. Kieran Smith RBR.

Joyce should buy a drink to the doctor and the referee because they saved his career tonight. Joyce was on the run to a career ending beating tonight. The only reason this fight was stopped by "eye damage", is because the doctor and the referee felt simpathy for joyce and decided to save him. Zhang was going to break that chin tonight, yes, yes, or yes. And once a chin is broken it's broken forever. Hadnt they stopped this fight joyce would have never been the same figther again, NEVER EVER.

 

Exactly. Styles make fights. Zhang is a very hard hitter and a southpaw, Hrgovic is not a puncher and he's ortodox. Joyce beats him and probably stops

 

Yup can appreciate his circumstances. That just makes it more admirable that he was willing to take his chances and not rest on his laurels and become a paper/garbage bin champ.

 

Howard Foster is one of those refs like Bayless who has to make himself part of the fight. He did in the first round (or second) when Zhang had Joyce hurt and he did at the end of the fight when he stopped it. He's just an ass of a ref

 

I'm sorry but I over hyped Joyce a little too much. Can he bounce back? It depends on the opponent he fights next, but he'll never be elite, and I doubt he'd ever be a world champion.

 

Yeh but that is not the case here,just face it man you rightly like to brag about the fights you call correctly so just admit you were wrong and cut the crap excuses.Nobody likes a sore loser accept it graciously as Joyce himself did

 

Exactly.

and Joe wouldn’t have his way over AJ with overwhelming size advantage like he did Parker….that win was given far too much credit.

 

joyce beats the crap out of hrgovic. And I bet that fury is an easier fight for joyce than zhang. Zhang being southpaw has been a nightmare for joyce. And I'm disapointed because of that, he is an elite fighter, he should have know better how to deal with zhang.

 

He would hit the canvas

 

My record is much better than yours man. That's well known. I gave Zhang a good chance, but thought he would blow out of steam and get stopped in the mid-late rounds. Like many others I wasn't convinced of Joyce due to how slow and hittable he is. It caught up to him today.

 

Congrats to Zhang. Really happy for him even though I expected Joyce to dominate. He's a legit beast, and one of the most dangerous punchers in the game. Sort of like a giant Corrie Sanders with a bit of old Foreman thrown in. Scary, scary man.

Really got my prediction wrong for this one. Sh**, almost nothing I said would happen actually happened, or happened in reverse. Think I even said Zhang would get a facial injury and be waved off in his corner around the middle rounds!

As for Joyce, this is a hard loss and not probably one he'll recover from. He was already pushing it in years and it was an all or nothing run to the top, so to rebuild at age 37 isn't going to be easy. His best bet is probably to rematch Zhang immediately, but if tonight's fight is anything to go by that's a very hard task to overcome. Sadly I feel this is a fight he could have won tonight had he chosen the right tactics. He should have respected Zhang's power from the off, softened him up with the jab, up the workrate and cause Zhang to self-implode.

Still, good luck to him. I know a lot of people are going to be gloating here, but Joyce is good for the division even if he isn't a title threat anymore.

 

Yes mate well said Joyce has been a breath of fresh air in an otherwise deadlocked division. Don't forget Joyce fought Dubois who's a threat to anyone and Takam who's a half decent gate keeper too.