Joe Joyce, Overrated?

Joyce was overrated by many but last night's fight changes nothing for him. He can still pose problems to most of the top 10 and possibly pick up a strap at some stage.

Joyce took a high risk fight and lost, I much prefer to see that than fighters that claim to be the best but then either avoid fighting or pick "easy" fights.

 

Well he is a world class heavyweight, Zhang was just better on the night?

 

Zhang took the 5th round off and a the stoppage was down to the punishment caused by Zhang's punches so is as good as a KO

 

It's a myth that he has some granite chin like a Mccall or Mercer.

His legs were wobbling in round 1 last night.

 

I am a Joe fan but was disappointed in his performance and game plan last night. Hat off to Zhang you could feel the hate in the atmosphere when he walked in and none of it seemed to phase him. Good win and well fought in our back yard.

 

I take my hat off to Joyce, in his position he could have just waited for a title shot, no need to take on a dangerous guy. Joyce's slow starting is the main issue, that eye was already starting to close in round 1, as his slow start enabled Zhang to land more shots than anyone should take from a guy that hits that hard. Two of the best guys in the division, i know a lot of people give Zhang a hard time over the Forrest fight, "how can you knock a guy down 3 times and still only get a draw?" kinda deal, when his kidneys were literally failing, but he's a legit threat for anyone out there including Fury and Usyk. I won't slate a top fighter for losing to another top fighter, especially when there aren't really any other top dogs that pose the stylistic threat that Zhang does!

Hope we get more top heavyweight face offs instead of a carousel of no hopers and has been for the top guys.

I can't slate wilder for losing to fury, I cant slate AJ for losing to Usyk and I'm not gonna slate Joyce for losing to Zhang

 

I was shocked Joice lost. I had his poster on my wall, I had to tear it down due to embarrassment.

 

Joe Joyce was top 10 before last night, he's still top 10. He'd give anyone a hard fight, Zhang was just a bad stylistic matchup for him.

Fury and Usyk outbox him, Wilder and Zhang KO him, but apart from them, I'd still back Joyce against most of the division.

 

Hear hear. Zhang's victory should be an exciting thing, because it throws Zhang (and by extension Hrgovic, though I'd still like to see more from him) into that 'Top HW' mixer (along with Usyk, Fury, Wilder, AJ, Joyce). Doesn't 'demote' Joe out of that bunch, and I still think he could beat some of those guys. Just means there are more fighters to make more interesting fights (even though sadly most of them probably won't happen).

But of course instead people need to be weird and tribal and talk about 'hype trains' and people getting 'exposed' because that's the easiest way to get reactions. Joyce has been legitimately testing himself, has one of the best resumés of recent years, and deserves credit.

 

This is similar to my take on things. I actually think Joyce beats PAPA Zhang easy in a rematch. One little adjustment required - STOP eating straight lefts for fun. Zhang was gassed by five.

Joyce is still favourite for me against anyone outside of Fury Wilder and USKY.

ZHANG is a tough nights work for anyone for six rounds. Top ten heavy but age not on his side.

 

One can't help but wonder what the Ring rating will look like.

This night, the heavyweight boxing was alive again.

 

He's still a good fighter, and I give him even more respect because the other top heavyweights wouldn't even take on a risky fight like this.
So sick of careful matchmaking to "protect the zero". So sick of fighters only fighting once a year.

 

Not really. Yes, it's a legitimate stoppage. No arguments there. However, a doctor's stoppage is not the same as knocking out an opponent in my eyes.

 

Good example man.