Olympic silver medalists Joe Joyce and Zhilei Zhang faced the media today at the official press conference for this Saturday’s heavyweight showdown courtesy of Frank Warren and Queensbury Promotions.
Joyce (15-0, 14 KOs) has actively pursued the current world champions, Tyson Fury and Oleksander Usyk, as well as chucking his name into the hat to face Anthony Joshua. Sadly for Joyce, he has had to remain patient.
“I’ve got a WBO interim, I don’t know how close I can be to world title.” Joyce said at the official press conference. “All the others seem to be running scared or doing their own little thing. I want the fight to happen.”
Joyce was making reference in this instance towards Oleksandr Usyk due to him holding the full WBO world title, a belt Joyce is currently the mandatory challenger for. However, it appears he will have to wait in line behind former opponent Daniel Dubois due to a WBA mandatory.
“I know how things work with the governing bodies.” Joyce continued. “I can only fight what is put infront of me. So why not fight a good fight and get everybody entertained and fight Zhilei Zhang over there. Beat him and go and challenge the rest of them.”
Joyce later responded to questions on his tactics for the upcoming bout with Zhang.
“I respect Zhang’s power and won’t be going in there recklessly. Also he’s a southpaw, so that’s a little more of a tricky style that I’m used to. The last I fought was Lenroy Thomas which was for the Commonwealth title. I’ve only had 15 fights, 14 knockouts and been having some proper fights. I’ve been giving everyone value for money.”
“There are many ways I can win.” Joyce later added. “It could go all the way, Zhang to me looks tough. I know [Filip] Hrgovic is good and hit him with some tough shots. It could go 12 rounds, you never know.”