Joe Joyce shows off gruesome eye injury after brutal Zhilei Zhang KO defeat

16 April 2023 , 08:12

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Joe Joyce shows off gruesome eye injury after brutal Zhilei Zhang KO defeat

Joe Joyce's eye had almost entirely closed during his stunning KO defeat to Zhilei Zhang on Saturday night.

The British star was looking to set up potential big fights with Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk with a win over contender Zhang in London. However, Joyce came in for the shock of his life, suffering a brutal defeat to the Chinese contender which saw him lose his status as WBO interim champion.

'The Juggernaut' took a damaging beating during six rounds of the fight before a brutal injury to his eye saw the referee stop the fight as Joyce returned to his corner at the end of the stanza. Pictures showed the heavyweight with bad damage to his eye which had almost swollen entirely shut after taking some big shots.

Joe Joyce suffered a bad eye injury in a loss to Zhilei Zhang (PA)

The eye injury signed off a devastating first career defeat for Joyce who could now find himself frozen out of the title picture after a long wait for a shot anyway. It was expected in the immediate aftermath of the event that Joyce could announce that he intends to pursue immediate revenge given he has access to a rematch clause.

But the 37-year-old has suggested he could first take an interim style fight before taking on his first conqueror for a second time. "We're going to discuss it," Joyce said to BBC Sport after the fight. "I could have one in between. I'm just going to decide. I'm going to have some time off and reflect and watch the tape back and see where I went wrong."

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He later added: "I've had my loss but I'll be back. The journey will continue. I can still see through [the eye], I think it's just bruised. It's a formality to go to the hospital now to check it's not fractured or anything. It looks like I've got a terminator eye now. It's unfortunate but I'll be back. I thought I was doing well in there.

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"I couldn't get away from his straight left. He kept on nailing me in the eye and it swelled up my eye. That's what happens when you take risks. Sometimes it doesn't go your way which is it's annoying. I thought I'd reach a victory here and it's just disappointing I didn't."

Joyce could line up a number of potential fights before a second shot at Zhang but will first likely need a period of recovery from his eye injury to assess the damage. It is expected he could then take on an interim style fight in the shape of potential challenger Dillian Whyte who made a call to take on his British counterpart after news of the defeat broke.

Ben Davies