Joe Joyce Vows To ‘Rebuild And Come Back’ Following KO Loss To Zhilei Zhang

Joe Joyce is confident he will rebuild himself following his knockout loss to Zhilei Zhang on Saturday.

Joyce and Zhang were having an immediate rematch after the Brit triggered his rematch clause following a shocking TKO loss earlier this year. Ahead of the rematch, Joyce was oozing with confidence.

However, in the third round, Zhilei Zhang knocked out Joe Joyce, in another stunning result. Although the loss was disappointing, Joyce who is 38, says he has no plans of retiring.

“I’m going to [take] a bit of time and go on holiday before I reflect and review where I went wrong,” Joyce said to IFLTV. “I’m feeling good, I’m feeling okay and it’s not the end of the world. I can rebuild and come back. After all, I’ve had harder, more challenging spars, it wasn’t a grueling fight.”

Ahead of the rematch, Joe Joyce added size after he came in at a career low in the first fight against Zhilei Zhang. Yet, that didn’t end up proving any different, and now Joyce knows he has to rebuild himself.

“I still feel fresh, and that I can do some more sparring and rounds. I’m feeling okay. I’ll just have to lick my wounds and come back stronger, but I’ll probably have to go another route now,” Joyce said.

With the loss in the rematch to Zhilei Zhang, Joe Joyce dropped to 15-2 as a pro and is now on a two-fight losing streak. Prior to the back-to-back losses to Zhang, Joyce was the interim WBO heavyweight champion and had notable wins over Joseph Parker, Christian Hammer, Carlos Takam, Daniel Dubois, and Bryant Jennings among others.

Are you surprised Joe Joyce lost in the rematch to Zhilei Zhang?