Joyce admits he underestimated Zhilei

“Zhilei surprised me with how fast his hands were and how accurate his shots were,” admitted Joe Joyce (15-1, 14 KOs), who will get a chance to rematch with Zhang Zhilei (25-1-1, 20 KOs) in September in the UK.

A specific date has not yet been announced, but promoter Frank Warren has already announced that it will be September. In the first fight between two Olympic heavyweight vice-champions, the Chinese defeated the Englishman and forced the referee to stop the meeting in the sixth round.

“He is not only dangerous in the ring, he is persistent and has very fast hands. I was even surprised how fast. Zhilei is a really good boxer and I don't think I was mentally prepared for such a difficult fight. I did my best, but there are some things I could have done much better. It wasn't a very good performance for me, but in a rematch I can definitely improve some aspects."

At stake in the rematch, as in the first time, will be the WBO heavyweight belt in the intermediate version, but first of all, the status of the mandatory contender for the full-fledged WBO champion, which is Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs), also the IBF and WBO.