In his latest column, the former Olympian and heavyweight contender looks ahead to Joe Joyce’s must-win rematch against Zhilei Zhang on Saturday and reacts to news of former opponent Kamil Sokolowski being banned for a positive drug test.
Joyce thought Zhang was an old man there for the taking
Ultimately, Joe wasn’t respectful enough of Zhang’s power and ability. He thought he was an old man who he could walk down, taking a few shots along the way but one he could get out of there eventually.
This time around, I think it will be completely different outlook. There will be that respect for what Zhang has in his locker. I think it will be a cagey start from Joe where he tries to drag it into the later rounds and when he sees the openings, he will step on the gas.
Doubts emerging over Joyce’s chin
We know Joe has had this incredible chin and has taken everything thrown at him over the years. But there is only so many times you can hit a tree with an axe before it falls down.
The only punchers that would be able to break that and really hurt Joe are Zhang, Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua because of his fast-combination power punching. Maybe Daniel Dubois has the power but he couldn’t hit him hard enough when they met in 2020 and got found out.
There is only a small handful who can do that to Joe. But he has fought one of them and come up short.
World title hopes hanging in the balance
It’s a must-win fight for Joe, he needs to get back that WBO mandatory challenger position he lost in April. Should things not go his way, I think he still has time to rebuild. Boxing has changed now. People like Joe, they are the exception to the rule around age. He is a complete athlete and he can go for a long time.
But in terms of world title positioning and where you stand in the eyes of the people that matter, it would be a real uphill task for him. We all see those belts are not moving around very often. Even with a win for Joe, it’s an uphill battle securing a title shot because of the situation at the moment. A defeat would leave him needing a miracle.
Joe will need to stay active if he wins while he waits and what do you do then? You can’t box another Zhang. It is a really strange dynamic at the division at the top. You have to just keep yourself in the gym and be prepared for that phone call. Because even though you have put yourself in that position, you just never know when your shot is coming.
Even if you are the no1-ranked mandatory challenger, that doesn’t mean you’re fighting for that belt. Not in the next six months or even the next year. We saw how long Dillian Whyte had to wait. There are no guarantees.
But for Joe, the goal at the moment is simple; avenge that defeat and get back to winning ways. Saturday isn’t about the performance, just the victory. He needs to get it by any means necessary.
Good riddance to Kamil Sokolowski
This week the news dropped that a former opponent of mine Kamil Sokolowski has been banned for three years after returning an adverse finding of testosterone following our fight last November.
It is the first time this has happened in my career, at least the first time I know of it happening and the person has been punished. But this is happening all over the sport. It didn’t surprise me one bit.
I’m not saying I am the biggest of punchers but I think I hit him with enough and it hardly made a dent in him.
He was coming forward the whole way through; whether that was down to my lack of punching power on the night or because of whatever he had in his system, I’m not sure.
But at the end of the day he is another cheat and good riddance.
He is retired now so there is a feeling he has got away scot free. Having said that, he hasn’t really given anyone of note any problems in a long time. Apart from David Adeleye, of course. Everyone else was good enough to beat him soundly except David who should have lost that fight.
It’s frustrating but at least we know now. The more testing in this sport, the better. You cannot escape anything in this day and age.
You can run for a bit but you can’t hide and you are eventually caught. Things like this ultimately save lives.
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