Weekend Musings

I’ll admit that I thought Joe Joyce would defeat Zhilei Zhang this past Saturday in cheery old England. I had a feeling. 

As Zhang proved, feelings don’t win fights. 

Technique does, at least most of the time. And ability.

Joyce had won his first 15 fights by wearing his opponents down. His porous defense didn’t matter. His chin could take it. 

Said chin didn’t crack until the giant from China started tattooing it five months ago. 

Joyce was wobbled - and stopped in round six. Upset, they said.  

Going into the rematch, Joyce said he’d made the “necessary adjustments.”

Well, in a way, he had.

In the first round, Joyce did something he almost never does - moved his head. He boxed, albeit rather slowly. The big man stuck out his jab, but his favorite punch, his right, didn’t follow suit. 

Instead, it stayed near his jaw to block Zhang’s incoming left. That left had tagged him several times in the first fight. Joyce was doing what he had trained for months to do. 

But he was stuck between two styles. 

Zhang started finding him in round two. Even the dreaded left landed. Joyce labored and pawed with his jab. Zhang was warming up while Joyce was unraveling. You could see it in his face. Joyce knew he was toast. His revenge plan wasn’t working. 

A few seconds past the two-minute mark in round three, Zhang maneuvered Joyce to the ropes. The big men traded. Zhang landed a brutal right hand that toppled Joyce. Beating the ten count was too much.

I, for one, think that Joyce should hang em up. Even his promoter, Frank Warren, mentioned the “R” word after the fight. 

“He seriously needs to consider it (retirement), because it’s not going to be an easy journey back,” Warren said. So true. 

Nope, said Joyce. 

“I can rebuild and come back,” said Joyce. “After all, I’ve had harder, more challenging spars. It wasn’t a grueling fight.”

Perhaps not grueling, but that right hand was brutal. 
 

Richardson Hitchins boxed circles around Jose Zepeda at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, FL. Hitchins (17-0, 7 KOs) came close to pitching a shutout. 

Titleholder Regis Prograis stopped Zepeda, (37-4, 28 KOs) in his last bout.  

Hitchins moved and jabbed. The boxing fans in attendance didn’t like it. 
 

Conor Benn fought for the first time in 17 months on Saturday. His PED problems are more than a bother. 

I hate that this issue is so commonplace in boxing. Tests are tests. Results are results. 

Are there problems with said tests sometimes? Yes. Obviously, boxing needs a commissioner. Never happen. Money. Sad for people who love the overall history of the sport. 
 

"That’s boxing, ain’t it?" Sandy Ryan told DAZN after her fight with Jessica McCaskill was judged a draw. 

From everything I’ve read, it is clear that Ryan deserved to be crowned the unified welterweight king. 

Deserved isn’t always in play in boxing. 

A poor decision? 

I’ve seen enough of those in boxing to last a lifetime.