Eddie Hearn Comments on Joe Joyce's Future After Loss to Zhang Zhilei

British promoter Eddie Hearn has commented on Joe Joyce's prospects after his defeat by Zhang Zhilei. According to Boxing Scene, Hearn stated,

“The reality is, Joe Joyce has never boxed an elite heavyweight. Zhilei Zhang is not an elite heavyweight. Joe wasn’t good enough to deal with Zhilei Zhang. When you sell your attributes based on 'you can hit me as hard as you like, and I’ll keep coming' – that’s not the recipe for longevity in a career..."

"He gets hit by absolutely everything, Joe Joyce. I would understand if he retired from boxing. He’s taken unbelievable punishment in sparring, in amateur tournaments and even in the professional code and it was really uncomfortable watching that on Saturday. If you can’t beat Zhilei Zhang, you have absolutely no chance of winning a world heavyweight title, no chance. Joe has got a massive decision now, because if he doesn’t rematch Zhang, he should retire," Hearn added.

Joyce suffered a TKO loss to Zhilei and lost the interim WBO heavyweight title. In the 6th round, the referee had to stop the fight due to a large hematoma around Joe's right eye. Joyce attributed his defeat to being uncomfortable fighting someone injured.

This marks the first loss in Joyce's professional career and 39-year-old Zhilei is now the interim WBO champion and eyeing a fight with Oleksandr Usyk.