Zhilei: 'I respected Joyce even more after the fight'

Zhang Zhilei respected Joe Joyce before their fight last Saturday as Joyce took the risk with that fight. He could easily defend his mandatory WBO heavyweight title against a weaker opponent.

Now Zhilei has an even higher opinion of Joyce after they got into a fight. Joyce took many punches over five-plus rounds but kept going until referee Howard Foster decided that a severe bruise around his right eye was already too big to allow Joyce to continue.

“I started to respect him even more,” Zhilei said in an interview with IFL TV through a translator after his impressive victory. - I think that he is an excellent fighter, very cool. He put a lot of pressure on me, but I managed."

Joyce (15-1, 14 KOs) has a clause in his contract that entitles him to an immediate rematch with Zhilei. However, Joyce, 37, has already indicated after his first professional loss that he could take an interim fight before taking on a second fight against Zhilei (25-1-1, 20 KOs).

"Let's see what Joe Joyce wants," Zhilei said. "If he wants a rematch, I'm ready."

Zhilei, 39, has plenty of options if Joyce decides he wants to face a different opponent next time. Having won the interim title, he also took Joyce's place as the mandatory challenger for Oleksandr Usyk's WBO belt. But Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) has two more mandatory defenses to face against Daniel Dubois (WBA) and Filip Hrgovic (IBF) before being required to fight Zhilei.

Zhileya now promotes Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions, which also represents WBC champion Tyson Fury and Joyce. Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) needs an opponent to return to the ring this summer, and Zhilei could at least be a fit for Fury's next fight.

Joyce entered the ring with Zhilei as a 9 to 1 favorite, despite the fact that Zhilei gave a tough fight to Croatian Hrgovic (15-0, 12 KOs) in his previous performance. Zhilei lost a unanimous decision on August 20 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, but showed early in the fight with Joyce why he was considered a risky opponent.

Zhilei hit Joyce with his left many times and was able to shock him in the second round. Joyce stated that he could still see with his right eye when their fight was stopped, but didn't complain much about the referee's decision.

“I hit him with the first deuce in the first round, I realized that he would not be able to live to see the final gong. I knew this even before the fight, which is why I came to London. I knew that I would take the belt from him,” Zhilei said.