The main event bout on this weekend’s Top Rank Boxing event in London, will be a clash of two heavyweight greats Joe Joyce and Zhilei Zhang. This is one of the more exciting upcoming boxing matches and will be a great main event for the fans to watch.
Both men will come ready to put on a show. The bout will also be for the WBO interim World Heavyweight championship belt–to see to whom the next shot at the unified champ will go to.
If you enjoy boxing odds, the game within the fight, read along for an in-depth look at this fight and an official Joyce vs Zhang prediction ahead of this weekend.
Joyce vs. Zhang Information
Joe Joyce vs Zhilei Zhang
Location of the game: Copper Box Arena, London, England.
Date and Time: April 15, 2023. 2 PM ET.
How to Watch: ESPN+
Last Fight Record
Joyce is coming off an impressive KO victory over the 30-2 Joseph Parker. That bout took place in September of 2022.
Zhang is looking to bounce back from a tough unanimous decision loss to Filip Hrgovic–where he hurt Hrgovic a number of times.
Joyce vs. Zhang Betting Analysis
Joe Joyce
Joyce is one of the more interesting boxers we have seen in a long time. He did not start boxing until the age of 21, then he went on to have a great amateur career. After multiple national championships and a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics, he decided to turn professional in his 30s. Now he finds himself in the driver’s seat to earn a world title shot in his late 30s.
The big London Native is looking to continue his dominance this weekend. Joyce has finished 14 of his 15 pro fights with a KO. You will be able to tell what level of Joyce you will get in the ring on Saturday–sometimes, he looks slow and lethargic, and other times he sets a pace and starts letting his hands go very well.
Zhilei Zhang
Zhang has a similar amateur career as Joyce; winning a bunch of national tournaments and also earning a silver medal at the Olympics. At age 39, this is obviously Zhang’s last shot at a big title fight. You can expect him to be as ready as he can be this weekend.
The southpaw has a 24-1-1 record with 19 KOs in his professional career. This is clearly not a good matchup for Zhang, but his craftiness, power, and experience can keep him competitive against the highly-favored Joyce.
Updates
No injuries have been reported for this heavyweight bout to WBO or Top Rank Boxing.
Joyce vs. Zhang Betting Preview
Boxing betting odds are pretty wild to look at week to week. You will see fights with massive favorites that are being contested for a world championship belt. Boxing odds have Joe Joyce as a big-time -1000 betting favorite over the +600 Zhang.
You don’t need to be a boxing expert to know that this matchup is heavily in Joyce’s favor to win. The fun part is trying to find the best line to place your bet on.
When you see a fight like this on the boxing schedule, you must do the research in order to come up with the most likely Joyce vs Zhang prediction. In this case, we see Joyce being the younger, more athletic fighter; along with him having world-class power in his hands.
The power and athleticism advantage that Joyce has will be tough for Zhang to compete with at almost 40 years old. Neither man is quick, but it will be apparent that Zhang is the older, more weathered fighter by the way he moves.
Joyce vs. Zhang Betting Prediction
After betting on boxing for a longer period of time, you will realize how interesting it is to make boxing predictions on a weekly basis. It seems very easy with all these huge favorites, but you need to have value in your bets to make any money.
The official Joyce vs Zhang prediction is that Joyce will fight behind a solid jab all night and end up putting Zhang away in the later rounds.
- Joyce to win by TKO/KO is -300, which still isn’t very valuable.
- If you are feeling super lucky, Joyce winning in round 8 is +900, and round 9 is +1000.
This seems like the sweet spot for when this fight might end. Joyce tends to start getting to his higher-level opponents around this time.
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