David Haye believes Joe Joyce will have nowhere to go if he loses a second encounter against Zhilei Zhang.
Earlier this year, Joyce suffered the first loss of his professional career when he was sensationally stopped by the Chinese star. He meets Zhang again this weekend and another loss could be disastrous.
Heading into the first meeting, Joyce was the WBO interim champion and in pole position to secure a future fight with full holder, Oleksandr Usyk. The setback against Zhang means that opportunity no longer exists and if he fails to reclaim that honour this Saturday, Haye believes it could be a ‘long road back.’
“I believe Joe has enough to find a way to win if he boxes smart. If he doesn’t do that, he probably will get frozen out of the heavyweight division,” said Haye when speaking to the PA press agency.
“What manager or promoter would want to risk their guy fighting Joe in a minor eliminator or in a 10-rounder. He would be too good for his own good.
“He is a very world class fighter so young fighters coming through, he would be too much for them. No manager or promoter in their right mind would chuck their young fighter in with Joe if he loses this fight.
“It would be a long road back and a long road back you can’t afford at the age of 38.”