An interim World Title is on the line and, more importantly, the mandatory position in the WBO Rankings with the winner of this one likely going to want to push through that shot against Oleksandr Usyk (or Daniel Dubois) later this year.
Once this weekend is in the books, all eyes will turn to the Super Fight between Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia, which is now just coming up over the horizon. There are some top fights scheduled for next weekend and reports indicate that Showtime may announce more on the Davis-Garcia bill with the long-awaited Errol Spence Jr vs Terence Crawford Undisputed Welterweight fight inching closer and closer to coming together and being made official.
It was a difficult weekend for the Boxing Picks- Shakur Stevenson earned the Stoppage I felt he could get, but it came a Round too early, while Jesse Magdaleno was dropped twice but managed to hear the final bell in survival mode against Raymond Ford.
Those small moments would have produced a massive swing in favour of the selections, but I just have to dust myself off and go again having recovered from a poor start to the year.
Joe Joyce vs Zhilei Zhang
We are all waiting to hear news as to how the Champions in the Heavyweight Division are going to move through 2023, although Oleksandr Usyk's first fight is almost certainly going to be against Daniel Dubois this summer.
Some may feel the Division is being held up by the two fighters holding the four belts, but Joe Joyce doesn't seem to care too much and the interim WBO World Champion is going to make sure he does not allow his career to stagnate.
I think he is taking on a pretty tough challenger in Zhilei Zhang who impressed in his last outing against Filip Hrgovic and was incredibly hard done by in a Decision loss. I thought 'Big Bang' had done more than enough to win having hurt Hrgovic a number of times, while Zhilei Zhang showed he had plenty in the gas tank after struggling to maintain his output in a controversial Draw with Jerry Forrest.
He is going to need all that and more to stick with The Juggernaut who has come in surprisingly light for this big fight on Saturday evening in East London. There are more than 20 pounds between the two former Olympic Silver Medalists, and it will be interesting to see if Joe Joyce has lost much of his ability to absorb a punch at this lower weight than expected.
Joe Joyce weighed the exact same number for his win over Bryant Jennings, the only person to reach the cards against the British fighter. It was also a bout in which Joyce had looked a little stunned and I do think the chin is going to be checked by Zhang who has fast hands for a Boxer of his size and who is very dangerous early on.
My feeling is the game-plan from Joe Joyce is going to be try and tire out Zhilei Zhang like Jerry Forrest did when the 39 year old was around the weight that Joyce is going to be in this fight. Carrying more than 20 pounds than that fight with Forrest is much harder on the body and I think Filip Hrgovic was really poor on the night rather than Zhilei Zhang being really special in that bout in Saudi Arabia last August.
Like many of his previous fights, I do think Joe Joyce is going to be hit hard and he is going to have to weather an early storm, but he has shown tremendous endurance and his work-rate may be the key to the outcome of this one.
Getting through the first Four Rounds will be key, but I think Joe Joyce will begin to really break down his opponent from there.
Looking back at my prediction for the Zhilei Zhang fight with Filip Hrgovic, I did think the latter would be able to wear down a gassed opponent in the middle of the fight. That didn't happen, but, again, I think that was more down to Hrgovic having a bad night and Joe Joyce doesn't seem to be dealing with the personal issues the Croatian had been (losing his father was a body blow to Filip Hrgovic).
Zhilei Zhang is well rounded, has good hands and will look to trade, but I do think Joe Joyce will be the more fluid Boxer in the ring when it comes to the movement. After Four Rounds I expect Zhang to be a much more stationary target and Joyce has shown he can break down his opponents and eventually crack through them.
The British fighter has shown he needs to just work through the gears and break his opponents down and I think that is likely to be the case in this one too. I have a lot of respect for Zhilei Zhang and he is a good fighter, but the way the gas tank emptied against Jerry Forrest is a concern.
He is expected to have opportunities early and I think it will be very tough for Zhang to re-energise after the first three or four Rounds are in the books and that is where Joe Joyce will take over. Howard Foster is the referee, much to the irritation of the Zhang team, and I would not be surprised if he is calling this one off in the mid-Rounds on Saturday after a heavy hitting Heavyweight contest sees Joyce take over with a number of unanswered responses from his opponent.
The undercard was supposed to have a chief support featuring Mikaela Mayer, but the BBBoC have refused to clear her opponent (despite doing that when Christina Linardatou fought Katie Taylor).
That is a real shame for Mayer who was looking to make a statement in a new Division before chasing bigger names, while the Board need to ask themselves why they haven't made a decision about Linardatou's medical condition before fight week (especially having cleared her once before).
Lucy Wildheart is now based in the United Kingdom and has stepped in at short notice, but Mikaela Mayer should have a largely comfortable night.
The rest of the card will feature some younger names and it is a chance for Moses Itauma and Sam Noakes to continue their development.
Moses Itauma wants to be the youngest Heavyweight Champion of all time after turning professional and is out for his third fight in 2023. The first two have not lasted very long, but he is expected to need more ring time to beat Kostiantyn Dovbyschchenko.
The opponent has never been Stopped despite losing twelve times and will give it a go having produced nine wins with six inside the distance.
However, I think Itauma is special and he can still close the show on this one inside the first half of the scheduled Six Rounds and likely be put on another Queensbury show very soon.
I also expect Sam Noakes to maintain his unbeaten run and secure an eleventh Stoppage in eleven professional fights. He defends his Commonwealth Lightweight Title against Karthik Sathish Kumar, who also has a 10-0 record, but who has not fought anyone of this level before.
The top Ranked Indian fighter in the weight class has fought outside of his own country before, but this is a big step up and I do think Kumar could struggle with the power Sam Noakes carries.
Only two fighters have made it out of the Fourth Round against Sam Noakes and I don't think that is likely to be the case in this one.
Saturday will also see the return of Denzel Bentley after coming up a little short in his World Title bid in Las Vegas at the end of 2022 against Janibek Alimkhanuly.
The stock has risen after the efforts and Bentley is looking to get back in contention to face the top names in the Middleweight Division as soon as possible. He defends his British Middleweight Title against Kieran Smith and I think the heavy hands of Denzel Bentley will be far too much for an opponent who was Stopped in the Sixth Round by Troy Williamson.
Kieran Smith has been down before in his career and I am not sure he has the pop to keep Denzel Bentley from getting on top in this fight and it that could begin very early too.
MY PICKS: Joe Joyce to Win Between 5-8 @ 2.87 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Moses Itauma to Win Between 1-3 @ 2.62 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Sam Noakes to Win Between 1-4 @ 1.66 Bet365 (2 Units)
Denzel Bentley to Win Between 1-6 @ 2.60 Coral (2 Units)
Boxing 2023: 14-24, - 7.98 Units (71 Units Staked, - 11.24% Yield)
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