Heavyweight boxing takes center stage in London this weekend as England’s Joe Joyce squares off against Chinese boxer Zhilei Zhang. Boxing fans will be licking their lips ahead of this one as two hard hitting big men step into the ring together with plenty to fight for.
Technically, the Interim WBO World Heavyweight Championship is on the line, but this fight feels like the preamble for something bigger. Both men have been putting together solid track records, but slowly. At 37 and 39 years old, neither are getting any younger and will need to make their big splash in the next few years if they are going to leave a legacy in their careers. Winning an interim belt isn’t a big splash—it’s the next fight that the winner of this match will get that’s what is worth fighting for.
We break down all the latest odds from bookmaker William Hill, and analyze the best bets to make on Joyce vs. Zhang this Saturday night.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: April 15th, 12:30 A.M. (GMT)
Looking at the outright winner odds, this match isn’t expected to be competitive from the bookies’ perspective. Joe Joyce has overwhelming favourite status with odds of 1.10 to win compared to Zhang’s 7.00. A Joyce knockout is only paying a low 1.33, while the Brit winning by decision is at 4.50. For Zhang to win, it’ll likely need to be by knockout but even that is paying 9.00.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: April 15th, 12:30 A.M. (GMT)
Bottom line, this should be a bloody fight to watch. Neither man is known for their fight IQ or defensive prowess—more so their power and steadfastness. Expect plenty of hard shots to be thrown and plenty of damage to be absorbed.
For Zhang, he comes into this clash with a record of 24-1-1, with each of those marks against his name coming recently. In his last fight, he lost a close one to Filip Hrgovic on points and boxed out a draw in 2021 against Jerry Forrest. Outside of this, he is perfect, admittedly against relatively unknown opponents.
Joyce, on the other hand, holds a clean 15-0-0 record. His biggest win came last year when he knocked out former heavyweight title contender Joseph Parker in the 11th round. Joyce has also fought fairly unknown opponents as well, however, and needs to impressive in this clash if he’s to attract enough attention to land a big name next.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: April 15th, 12:30 A.M. (GMT)
We say backing Joyce for a late knockout is a strong bet here. Zhang is no mug, but Joyce is a cut above. This, with a home crowd behind him and the confidence of a win over someone like Parker recently, should lead to Joyce having enough to score the knockout here. Betting on Joyce to win in round 10-12 brings the best odds and is your best return here.
