Joe Joyce Next Fight In London, Announcement Expected This Week
WBO Interim Heavyweight champion, Joe Joyce (15-0, 14 KOs) will return to the ring on April 15 at London’s 7,000-capacity Copper Box Arena, promoter Frank Warren has revealed to IFL TV.
BoxingScene were the first to break that a deal was being finalised for the 37-year-old to defend his title against 39-year-old Chinese contender Zhilei Zhang (24-1-1, 19 KOs).
ESPN followed up on this story with reports that a bout between Joyce and Zhang would be a part of the regular BT Sport subscription rather than a ‘Box Office’ event.
Although Warren did not reveal the opponent, he confirmed that they were waiting on the contracts with an announcement set for this week and a press conference to follow.
In his highest-profile win to date, Joyce stopped New Zealand’s Joseph Parker (31-3, 21 KOs) in the 11th round of their September 24 clash at the AO Arena in Manchester, England. Joyce-Parker was televised on PPV in the United Kingdom.
Zhang suffered a controversial decision loss to IBF mandatory Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic in his last fight. Hrgovic came off the canvas after being dropped in the first round to claim a highly-contested unanimous decision victory. Hrgovic-Zhang was the co-main to Usyk Joshua 2.
Denzel Bentley (17-2-1, 14 KOs) will defend his British Middleweight championship against Scotland’s Kieran Smith (18-1, 7 KOs) on the undercard per BBBofC circular.