{"id":26706,"date":"2023-09-22T17:37:22","date_gmt":"2023-09-22T16:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/?p=26706"},"modified":"2023-09-22T17:55:40","modified_gmt":"2023-09-22T16:55:40","slug":"joyce-targets-usyk-but-zhang-confident-of-another-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/news\/joyce-targets-usyk-but-zhang-confident-of-another-win","title":{"rendered":"Joyce targets Usyk but Zhang confident of another win"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Joyce sets sights on Usyk if he reclaims interim title<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Zhang ended Joyce\u2019s unbeaten run in April<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Zhang looking to face Fury<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In a bold declaration, Joe Joyce asserts that his immediate target is Oleksandr Usyk, following his upcoming rematch against Zhilei Zhang at Wembley Arena this Saturday. Zhang dealt Joyce a significant blow by shattering his previously unblemished record with a sixth-round stoppage in April. The stakes are high for both fighters, with Zhang eyeing a potential pursuit of Tyson Fury in the event of a victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A triumph against Zhang would not only secure Joyce the WBO Interim strap but also firmly establish him as the mandatory challenger for Usyk&#8217;s WBO championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m hopeful, once I get the title back, that it will be Usyk next,&#8221; Joyce said on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;But the way heavyweight boxing is right now, I&#8217;m not 100 percent sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Definitely getting the title back will put me in good stead, and it then becomes a more likely scenario to fight Usyk.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During Thursday&#8217;s press conference, China&#8217;s Zhang delivered a stark message to his British adversary, declaring, &#8220;I&#8217;m here to end your career.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;For the first fight, you gave me the opportunity, but your team made a mistake in choosing me,&#8221; Zhang asserted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He continued, &#8220;Your team going for the rematch is a bigger mistake. I&#8217;m here to end your career.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Undeterred, Joyce, who boasted an unblemished record of 15 fights with 14 knockouts before his loss at London&#8217;s Copper Box Arena, responded emphatically, &#8220;Let&#8217;s see it then. Let&#8217;s have it.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The anticipated rematch promises high drama and fierce competition, with both fighters resolutely focused on their respective objectives. With the coveted WBO Interim strap and a shot at Usyk&#8217;s championship on the line, the stakes have never been higher. While a victory for Joyce would certainly bolster his chances of facing Usyk, the unpredictable nature of heavyweight boxing leaves room for uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Betting\">Betting Implications<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The bookies are predicting a fight that could go either way, with Zhang the slight favourite. BoyleSports, at the time of writing, have Zhang at 5\/6, Joyce at 20\/21 and a draw at 16\/1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Punters should look at previous performances, the records of the two fighters, and the original bout to assess how they think things could go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Check out the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/boxing\">best boxing betting sites<\/a>\u00a0in the Uk with Betting.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a bold declaration, Joe Joyce asserts that his immediate target is Oleksandr Usyk, following his upcoming rematch against Zhilei Zhang at Wembley Arena this Saturday. Zhang dealt Joyce a significant blow by shattering his previously unblemished record with a sixth-round stoppage in April. The stakes are high for both fighters, with Zhang eyeing a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":26650,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[590],"tags":[645],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26706"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26706"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26711,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26706\/revisions\/26711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}