Joe Joyce signaled his return with a signature knockout victory over fellow British heavyweight Kash Ali, but the former WBO interim champion faces a tough road ahead as he seeks to reconquer his position as a top heavyweight. The two heavyweights main-evented on a Queensberry-promoted fight card held at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, UK, on Saturday, March 16th.
Joe Joyce (16-2, 15 KO’s) suffered a significant setback in his career following two back-to-back KO losses to Chinese heavyweight contender Zhilei Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KO’s) in 2023, but the “Juggernaut” showed some semblance of his former self against Kash Ali (21-3, 12 KO’s) last Saturday.
Despite the knockout victory over Ali, Joyce’s performance was left wanting as he nearly went the full ten rounds with the British-level fighter before knocking Ali out in the last round. Joyce dominated most of the rounds quite easily, but was found lacking in his defense which saw Ali manage to land shots that should not have passed through Joyce’s guard given the disparity in ability and experience between the two fighters.
Offensively, it also took Joyce more than a couple rounds to get going as despite putting on plenty of pressure on Ali from the start of the bell, Joyce’s attacks did not seem capable of putting Ali down on the floor once. Kash Ali, mostly known for fighting opponents far below Joyce’s level, did quite well against Joyce but simply did not have the ability to deal with Joyce who was relentless when it came to activity in the ring.
In the tenth and final round, Joe Joyce caught Ali late with a right hand to firmly knock him down, resulting in Joyce winning by knockout as Ali failed to beat the count in time as he struggled to stand up. While it was a classic way for Joyce to end the fight, having dispatched opponents in similar fashion late in the fight, it was not a stellar performance in any manner, and concerns have now mounted as to his ability to face the top heavyweights in his division.
With Joyce still showing the lack of destructive power [until the last round], defensive vulnerabilities and average or lower hand speed, the British heavyweight is clearly still in need of more development. With Joyce approaching 39 years of age, there is a limited window for him to both improve and succeed as a top heavyweight following the heavy setbacks he suffered against Zhang last year.
However, with at least a recent fight under his belt, Joyce can take heart from his winning performance and drive himself to be more active, at the very least, which will ensure he will remain sharp and focused a head of a possible fight against a top bracket heavyweight contender.
The Queensberry Promotions fight card featured several other decently-known British fighters who were able to showcase their talents on the night. Undefeated British super bantamweight/junior featherweight Liam Davies (16-0, 8 KOs) held on to his spotless record as he stormed to a second-round stoppage win over Mexican contender Erik Robles Ayala (15-2, 9 KO’s) to become the new IBO world champion―as the vacant IBO title had been made available for their bout.
Though the IBO is still regarded as a minor sanctioning body, Davies’ achievement signaled his improvement and his readiness to potentially face the other top fighters in his division, with most prominently undisputed champion Naoya Inoue (26-0, 23 KO’s) remaining the key fighter that Davies is to face if he aims to gun for world title recognition.
With Davies having disposed of a decent contender in Erik Robles in the fashion he did, the British 122-pounder has likely moved into a title contending position and might be faced with the opportunity to defend the winner between Inoue and Luis Nery (35-1, 27 KO’s) sooner rather than later.
British super middleweight contender Zach Parker (24-1, 17 KO’s) also notched another win on his record to become closer to challenging his division’s undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KO’s). Though the outcome of Alvarez and Jaime Munguia, (43-0, 34 KO’s)―who will fight on May 4th―will determine the holder of all the main 168 lbs titles, Parker has―like Liam Davies―put himself into a position where he could be considered a viable contender following a unanimous decision ten-round win over German contender Tyron Zeuge (27-1-1, 15 KO’s).
