Zhilei Zhang vs Joe Joyce II - September 23 // Wembley Arena

I don't disagree with that. FWIW in retrospect, there was a big element of that in the first Smith-Eubank too, after his boiling down to 157 for Benn.

I guess my hypothesis here is that Joyce's lower weight really impacted him first time out, and it's a factor why I'm backing him tomorrow. There's a big element of "he can't be that bad again, surely?", just as there was with CEJ.

 

No doubt Joyce boxes early whilst Zhang is dangerous. Taking the cautious approach early and being on the move.

Then late on as Zhang gases Joyce takes him out. Probably gets stopped by the referee jumping in as Zhang is exhausted on the ropes absorbing punishment.

 

Zhang stops him very early

 

Think we see a repeat of the first, Joyce could only block punches with his head for so long, think it's all caught up with him now.

 

Just put £20 on Joyce pts at 11/4

Decent value bet for me, so I took it

 

Joyce has put on a massive amount of weight from the first fight and is even 10lbs above his previous career heaviest. I really don't see the need for it. He looked great for the first fight but just didn't take the opponent serious enough.

I just hope he hasn't fecked his greatest attribute - Stamina.

 

He didn’t look great in the first fight at all- he looked undersized and unwell to me. As a result he didn’t have his usual snap in his punches or general strength. I would have preferred that he came in at around 270 which was his weight against Parker, but I don’t see his stamina being affected - he is like a Land Rover. He’s built for harsh terrain.

 

I wouldn't have minded had he come in even 10lbs heavier but 25lbs seems excessive. Looks a bit bloated whereas Zhang looks natural.

 

20 stone of Juggernaut!

C’mon Joe!

 

Won't be the most exciting but quite looking forward to this again, two evenly matched fighters in a heavyweight clash

 

I don't believe that since the first fight JJ will have had the time to make the changes he needs to win, he has fought the same way all of his career, he will try and employ his new self but he will just revert to type i'm afraid, i hope i am wrong and would love to see him win, but i just can't see it happening.
Same result as last time, but maybe a couple of rounds longer.

 

On a side note it’s good to see an even match-up with no PPV, no hyperbole and no fake build up or trash talk… just 2 decent fellas having a scrap. I’m on holiday in Greece tomorrow so will probably miss it but enjoy the fight chaps.

 

Enjoy your holiday mate. I’ll swap you if you want haha.

 

Looking at Joyce’s weight he’s gone hardcore on the gear and is juiced to the gills.

 

What's that, an 11kg gain in a 5 month window at 38yrs of age on top of an already trained body? Seems legit!

"Juicy" Joe Joyce