I wonder if he's ill-advised to take the Zhang rematch. It seems to me that he's currently in quite a good position and should sit tight. If he loses the rematch then his value goes down further, if he wins, the first fight will be seen as an off night and he'll be back to being avoided by everyone. As things stand, he's only got one loss but looks more vulnerable than he did. In terms of landing a big fight he's in the best position he's ever been.
Not a bad idea, the tricky thing though is I'm not sure there's a British HW in the right position to give him the money fight he wants (besides, ironically, Dubois). I'm don't think his name is big enough in the American market to pick up a fight with Anderson. Makhmudov would be in the right place to match up with him but that's a smaller payday than Zhang. Seems like he had poor timing here and might not have a better option than Zhang.
Did the Zhang fight make him look vulnerable or did the Zhang fight show that he is vulnerable? I believe that Joyce is vulnerable to boxers at both ends of the spectrum. Pure master boxers like Usyk and big bangers like Zhang. Fighters that fall in the middle of that spectrum he can Juggernaut. I am a fan of Joyce and he should have gotten the Usyk fight not Dubois. But he lost to Zhang and it doesn’t look good. He has to fight Zhang because right now Zhang got a more legit claim to a title shot then he does.
My point is that there is doubt there at the moment and that makes him more attractive as an opponent to the big four. If he loses the rematch his value goes down, if he wins it he'll be avoided for the reasons he always has. The AJ fight, in particular, would be commercially great with his reputation just as it is now.
To me it makes him same high risk lower reward. He is still is the Juggernaut. But he is no longer undefeated so less bragging rights when you beat him. Can’t market the 0 anymore either. Lets say Fury beats Joshua if they fight next. Then next thing for Fury got to be Usyk. If Joshua loses that will make him a domestic fighter. Maybe Joyce can do some things domestically without beating Zhang but I don’t see it going further then that. It seems like Usyk has no interest in fighting Joyce. I think Usyk should have been fighting Joyce not Dubois. But in Usyks defense he already beat Joyce if that’s his reasoning.
Joe didn't do the necessary to become a champion or at least have a title fight and a re-match is just one more step in his path of a 38-years old no-career concept fighter.
If Joyce can find a way to win that rematch he deserves a medal Very little he can do to avoid that honed left hand....and even when Zhang is tired that will be his go to punch. It reminded me of the first time I sparred as a southpaw. The poor sod was running into the left hand all night.
