It doesn’t get much better than this in heavyweight boxing. In an era when evenly matched fighters rarely step in the ring together, China’s Zhilei Zhang will face off against Englishman Joe Joyce for the second time, in what should be a scintillating encounter. With the Interim WBO World Heavyweight Title on the line in London on Saturday night, plus bragging rights and a future title fight to unify the division’s belts, there’s a lot on the line this weekend.
Both men head to the OVO Wembley Arena with the pain of recent losses at the forefront of their minds. Zhang’s first career loss came just over a year ago to Filip Hrgovic, and while he’s won since then, the Chinese fighter will be eager to string together another win streak. For Joyce, the first loss of his career came just months ago, at the hands of none other than Zhang, in their May 2023 bout.
With the pair’s first clash being stopped by the doctor due to nasty damage around Joyce’s eye, can the Englishman gain his revenge in London this Saturday night? We breakdown all the latest odds from bookmaker William Hill and outline the best bets to make on Zhang vs. Joyce this weekend.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: September 23rd, 8:00 A.M. (GMT)
Bookmaker William Hill gives the edge to Zhilei Zhang in this bout, but only just. The Chinese native pays 1.73 to win outright, narrowly ahead of Joe Joyce odds to win at 2.10. A draw, meanwhile, returns a healthy 21.00 pay out.
In terms of how this one is predicted to end, William Hill pays 2.37 for a Zhang knockout, with this the most likely outcome. Following this, both a Joyce knockout and Joyce decision pay 4.00, before Zhang winning on the cards returns 5.50.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: September 23rd, 8:00 A.M. (GMT)
Less than six months ago, Zhang stepped into the ring against Joyce and came away victorious. Sure, there are some who will say that a doctor’s stoppage doesn’t count as a proper victory, which is why the rematch has been called. The reality is though, that Zhang dominated Joyce to the extent that he was able to put sufficient damage on the Englishman to have the fight stopped.
While this bout will be no cake walk for the 40-year-old Chinese boxer, we say that “Big Bang” will yet again have too much power for Joyce. Neither fighter is young, but Zhang will be the more motivated to win here and get a crack at one of the big names in the division, before Father Time forces him to call it quits at this level. Back Zhang to win by knockout at 2.37 for a decent return.
