The Final Straw

For Joe Joyce, last time out was as devastating as they come. The man they said nobody could dent was dented into defeat by Zhilei Zhang. Now it is time to exact revenge. 

It is a ballsy move from Joyce, and one we should be thankful for considering the rest of the world scene heavyweights are either sitting on their hands, or rubbing them in Saudi cash. 

Sure, Joyce may not have many other options. 

But this is an option he and his team could have done without. See, a rematch hints at the need for immediate change. Something difficult to envisage in a 38-year-old Joyce. 

That is because even in victory, during his moments of adversity, Joyce has never swayed from his factory default - unsophisticated, rough and punishing. 

It was his undoing in April as Zhang highlighted his faults with a savage boxing lesson.  

His purple, swollen eye an unwanted gift for his efforts. 

Joyce will undoubtedly have to be better than he was last time out when, quite frankly, he looked ill-equipped to deal with Zhang’s southpaw threat. 

However, Joyce must also ensure he doesn’t end up in no man’s land. 

Trying to remould the Juggernaut into a fighter from the Oleksandr Usyk playbook will end only in confusion, indecision and eventually malfunction. 

Just a little bit of tinkering and things could be very different. 

That doesn’t mean losing the Joyce we know. The sheer novelty of a fighter barging his way through the ranks by being a hard b*stard is utterly brilliant. 

So let’s keep that Joyce in the room, please. 

Essentially, what we’re after is a fighter less ponderous, and more perky. I refuse to believe someone who celebrates his wins by doing a flip is incapable of moving their head off line. 

There is of course the thinking that Joyce had underestimated his fellow Olympic silver medallist first time round. Unprofessional? Unquestionably. Yet potentially explanatory. 

And that isn’t me saying that Joyce believed he would win by just turning up. 

But against a fighter such as Zhang, who is known to fatigue pretty quickly, standing there like an anvil whilst waiting for a wave of exhaustion could be passable advice. 

Again, it didn’t work, but it has led us to what I think is a fantastic juncture. 

Unpredictability. 

There aren’t many fights where all four outcomes are as equally plausible as each other. I can’t pick one, yet neither would come as a shock. 

But for Joyce, it has to end with his hand raised. 

If it doesn’t, then he can use that hand to wave goodbye to his world title aspirations, and maybe even his career. 

It sounds brutal, but now more than ever the doors are closing on those who wish to be granted even a sniff at one of the division’s major belts. 

So, over to you Joe. 

Oscar Bevis