Joe Joyce looks to land a BIG BANG vs Zhilei Zhang to secure a fight vs Oleksandr Usyk.

Joe Joyce defends his WBO interim heavyweight title against Chinese contender Zhilei Zhang.

Joyce (15-0, 14 KOs) captured a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio and debuted as a pro following year. The 37-year-old has earned wins over former world champs Bermane Stiverne and Joseph Parker and against title challengers Carlos Takam and Bryant Jennings. In his last fight, Joyce smoked Parker in the 11^th round to capture the interim WBO title. The undefeated knockout artist is on the path towards a potential showdown with heavyweight king Tyson Fury or unified champ Oleksandr Usyk, but he’ll need to defend his strap against a fellow silver medalist.

 
Zhang (24-1-1, 19 KOs), a 2008 Chinese Olympian, started his career in the paid ranks in 2014. He went 22-0 and captured various regional titles before fighting to a draw against Jerry Forrest in 2021. The 39-year-old then scored stoppage wins over Craig Lewis and Scott Alexander before suffering his first pro loss against undefeated Olympic bronze medalist Filip Hrgovic. In terms of height and reach, Zhang and Joyce are identical as both are 6’6” tall with 80-inch reaches.

Joyce weight in at 256lbs and Zheng 278lbs.