Joyce lost the WBO interim title and valued status as one of the mandatory challengers to unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk that he had won with a thrilling late stoppage of Joseph Parker in his first fight against Zhang 11 months ago, when ambitions of a massive payday were extinguished by the heavy-hitting ‘Big Bang’, who battered his opponent and caused major swelling around the eye that led to the bout being waved off in the sixth round.
