Joe Joyce opens up on most recent loss.
At one stage, Joe Joyce was seen as one of the very best heavyweights in all of boxing. Despite a late start in the professional side of the sport, the Londoner got into his groove after a 2022 knockout of former world champion Joseph Parker.
Known as “The Juggernaut”, Joyce was renowned for his tough chin, which he used to absorb punishing blows before ultimately grinding his foes down and stopping them.
For a while, it was thought that Joyce’s chin was impenetrable. But when you fight amongst the biggest men, nobody’s chin is impenetrable.
This proved to be the case when Joyce ran into Zhilei Zhang, a Chinese heavy-hitter who could give a punch better than Joyce could take one. And after losing to Zhang once, Joyce would also lose in their rematch.
A win over Kash Ali would then be followed by defeats to Derek Chisora and Filip Hrgovic. And just last month, he would be stopped by Artem Suslenkov under concercing circumstances.
At almost 41 years old, many have called for Joyce’s retirement. But in an interview with talkSPORT Boxing, he has stated his desire to fight on and also revealed something worrying regarding his most recent fight.
“You know, like, when you go out, and then you can’t really remember what happened the night before, and then someone shows you a video? It was kinda like that”, Joyce stated. “‘Cause I went back to my hotel room, and I was like, ‘What really happened?’ ‘Cause I felt like I was winnin’ the fight.
“And then I watched it back, and I was like, ‘Whoa.’ But I think what might’ve happened [was] I might’ve took a big shot, and then … I couldn’t really see [it] or whatever.”
Quite a concerning piece of information, given what can happen in this sport of ours.
Want to get the latest boxing news direct to your phone? Join our WhatsApp community by clicking here.
