Joe Joyce vs Zhang 2 September 23rd

SuperLuigi said:
Seems like a fight that could get a lot of people in China excited. If they held the fight in China maybe they could make a lot of money from tickets.
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The Chinese really stand behind their own. Zou Shiming is perhaps the best modern example of it. As a double Olympic champion he was already well known, however. His pro debut did 300 million viewers in China alone. I think Zhang could absolutely be a big draw considering there are around 1.5 billion people there. If only 1% of them tuned in or bought his PPV then that's a 15 million domestic viewership/PPV buy rate.
 
I wish Zhang was next in line for Usyk, low key disgusted that he has a loss to Hrgovic. I really want to see that fight, Zhang might have faster hands than Dubois and Joshua or at least better timing when he throws. Instead it might be a year before Zhang gets his chance to pull off a Foreman like upset. Just hope no one wastes their time trying to negotiate with Fury the MMA fighter-fighter.

Also this little two-step with Joyce is not going to get Zhang any big names who are in title contention. He is low reward, high risk right now.
 
RizinSon88 said:
I wish Zhang was next in line for Usyk, low key disgusted that he has a loss to Hrgovic. I really want to see that fight, Zhang might have faster hands than Dubois and Joshua or at least better timing when he throws. Instead it might be a year before Zhang gets his chance to pull off a Foreman like upset. Just hope no one wastes their time trying to negotiate with Fury the MMA fighter-fighter.

Also this little two-step with Joyce is not going to get Zhang any big names who are in title contention. He is low reward, high risk right now.
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I'd rather see Usyk vs Zhang next myself. Hrgovic isn't an interesting opponent. He would have a better shot at upsetting him due to his power but Usyk has the best chin and stamina in the division. I think it could be interesting early. Once Zhang gasses though Usyk would just walk him down and stop him with an accumulation of shots. He's not built to go 12 hard rounds.
 
Noveltymortar said:
I think this is more about Joyce being exposed than it is about Zhang being a threat to Fury or Usyk. He's good but I don't think he goes much further.
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Southpaws are always trouble, especially ones that can punch with both hands. I don't think anyone's looking forward to fighting him, even if they can beat him.
 
I remember seeing his name years ago when looking up people and fights on boxrec, I thought he would turn out to be a fail in the pros especially since he wasnt fighting strong opponents until his mid late thirties but what I have seen was pretty amazing.
Given Joyce doesn't have the best footwork and is easy to hit often I still think its a pretty huge win and if you had asked me years who would win when Joyce was fighting in IBA I probably would not have gone with Zhang.

But I think I really underestimated Zhang, he was also a good amateur and while he lost to AJ in the amateurs I think given how AJ looked in his last couple of fights I think it is not unlikely at all that Zhang hits him flush and gets a stoppage.
 
TheGreatA said:
Southpaws are always trouble, especially ones that can punch with both hands. I don't think anyone's looking forward to fighting him, even if they can beat him.
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Yeah nobody is going to ask for him. He's too high risk-low reward. Power in both hands like you noted, southpaw, and so big and strong that you can't muscle him around. He was nearly 290 lbs in the ring today. His glaring weakness is his gas tank but he'd be a real handful for any of the top guys until he's spent.
 
idk I guess I will say this

Joyce not moving his head like.....at all

made Zhang look pretty good. Not saying he is not good, but still. It helped.
 
XThe GreatestX said:
idk I guess I will say this

Joyce not moving his head like.....at all

made Zhang look pretty good. Not saying he is not good, but still. It helped.
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Well apparently Joyce is a completely non-adaptive fighter who’s gameplan included coming in 25 lbs heavier than before. Zhang destroyed him and it was easy because he knew exactly what to build on from previous experience and Joyce’s team made it that much easier this time around.
 
Zhang has been trying to lobby for a title shot in Beijing for a while now. As the interim champ who now has a domimant marquee win (and quite frankly also beat the guy Usyk is defending against) he should be able to get Usyk in there. Usyk has showed a precedent of fighting people on their hometurf.

Zhang fighting for the HW title might be strong enough to host in the Beijing National Stadium (80k type of venue). That's definitely worth it financially for promoters if the data is there to support that type of drawing capability. I think at the very least they could do a 40k type of house, it is not every day a Chinese person challenges for a major world title much less the heavyweight.
 
Doctor Grudge said:
Zhang has been trying to lobby for a title shot in Beijing for a while now. As the interim champ who now has a domimant marquee win (and quite frankly also beat the guy Usyk is defending against) he should be able to get Usyk in there. Usyk has showed a precedent of fighting people on their hometurf.

Zhang fighting for the HW title might be strong enough to host in the Beijing National Stadium (80k type of venue). That's definitely worth it financially for promoters if the data is there to support that type of drawing capability. I think at the very least they could do a 40k type of house, it is not every day a Chinese person challenges for a major world title much less the heavyweight.
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Would Usyk travel to China to fight him? Probably. He went to Gassiev's backyard in Russia when he was at cruiserweight. Talk about ballsy for a Ukrainian to do after they had recently taken Crimea. Agree on the rest. Zhang is China's first professional heavyweight titlist (if we count his interim strap). I don't recognize it but the mainstream media has highlighted it. He's a unicorn in the division in that regard.
 
Kovalev's "Man Bag" said:
His pro debut did 300 million viewers in China alone. I think Zhang could absolutely be a big draw considering there are around 1.5 billion people there. If only 1% of them tuned in or bought his PPV then that's a 15 million domestic viewership/PPV buy rate.
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yep and they are investing a lot in the sports industry lately. The 19th Asian Games kicked off today in Hangzhou and is attracting many people. Even if a relatively low percentage of the population are sport fans, that's still a lot of people.
 
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