A crossroads fight at heavyweight approaches as Zhilei Zhang looks to repeat his stunning triumph over Joe Joyce when the pair collide at Wembley Arena in London on September 23. The 12-round bout, plus undercard action, will be broadcast by BT Sport in the U.K. and ESPN+ in the U.S.
Joyce lived up to his “Juggernaut” nickname through 15 straight wins before “Big Bang” – the ring moniker for Chinese colossus Zhang - derailed him at the Copper Box Arena in London on April 15. The referee stopped the fight midway through the sixth round due to grotesque swelling around the Englishman’s right eye.
In truth, Zhang was in command from start to finish.
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The issue for Joyce in fight one was clearly the southpaw stance of his Zhang. Instead of moving outside of his opponent’s right foot to locate punching room, the Englishman stood directly in front of Zhang, who smashed home the punches and reconfigured Joyce’s face.
We recently seen Chris Eubank Jr. reverse a stoppage defeat to Liam Smith in a direct rematch. Can Joyce switch up the tactics and execute the game plan necessary to avenge his first professional setback? The prize is a WBO mandatory position to challenge unified champ Oleksandr Usyk.
The Sporting News now looks into the betting for this heavyweight rematch and makes a final prediction on the outcome:
Zhilei Zhang vs. Joe Joyce 2 betting odds
Per SkyBet, Zhang is the -138 favourite, while Joyce is the +110 underdog.
Zhilei Zhang vs. Joe Joyce 2 betting trends
The following odds are available at SkyBet:
- Zhang via KO/TKO: +125
- Zhang via decision: +400
- Joyce via KO/TKO: +250
- Joyce via decision: +300
- Draw: +1200
MORE: How to bet on combat sports
Zhilei Zhang vs. Joe Joyce 2 prediction, best bets
This looks like a tough one for Joyce.
Some heavyweight setbacks looks solvable – think Hasim Rahman KO 5 Lennox Lewis or Andy Ruiz TKO 7 Anthony Joshua – but this one looks like the stuff of nightmares for the London-based boxer-puncher.
Joyce wasn’t struck by one shot that turned things around, he was soundly outboxed from beginning to end and had very little success in the first fight. Can he turn all of that around in just six months and reverse the result?
The home fighter definitely has the requisite fighting guts, but it’s his feet that let him down last time. Despite being very athletic for a big man, he hardly falls into the category of fleet-footed, so that issue needs to be resolved in a hurry.
Interestingly enough, Joyce came in at his lightest weight for over three years in fight one – 256 pounds. But given how flat and static he was, it’s unlikely that a considerable weight gain would do Joyce any favours in the rematch. Speed of foot and positioning are key here, so his weight should be comparable.
I think Joyce can improve on his last performance and ask questions of the visitor. However, I still think Zhang will find him with punches that he doesn’t see coming and those are the ones that do damage. I foresee a better fight with the same result.
Sporting News prediction: Zhang TKO between Round 7 and 9 (Per SkyBet: +600)
