Is retirement possible for Joe Joyce following his shocking loss to Zhilei Zhang last weekend?
Eddie Hearn certainly believes so if the 2016 Olympic silver medallist doesn't go into an immediate rematch with his most recent conqueror.
Joyce was stopped in the sixth round against Zhang, but he’d been struggling with the Chinese man’s left hand from the opening bell.
After hurting Joyce in the second session, Zhang piled on the pressure even more as the fight progressed and with Joyce’s right eye closing, the ringside doctor advised Howard Foster to stop the bout following two inspections.
Hearn, the promoter of Anthony Joshua, who Joyce had spoken about fighting during the build-up to Zhang, has had his say on what went down last weekend.
“He gets hit by absolutely everything, Joe Joyce. I would understand if he retired from boxing,” said Hearn when speaking to IFLTV
“He’s taken unbelievable punishment in sparring, in amateur tournaments and even in the professional code. The reality is Joe Joyce is not an elite heavyweight.
“If you can’t beat Zhilei Zhang, you have absolutely no chance of winning a world heavyweight title. If he doesn’t rematch Zhang, he should retire.”