Joe Joyce’s shock loss to Zhilei Zhang earlier this month means that the Brit’s wait for a world title shot goes on.
Joyce had been hoping to secure a big opportunity against either Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Usyk but his costly defeat to Zhang saw him lose the WBO interim title and Tony Bellew believes the Zhang fight was unnecessary.
Joyce’s win over Joseph Parker last year was a result that had many within the boxing community believe Joyce was ready for the best in the division.
Against Zhang, Joyce was not expected to endure the problems he did but Bellew thinks there were easier options for the 2016 Olympic silver medallist.
“I just think it was a little bit greedy taking that fight,” said Bellew when speaking to IFL TV regarding the recent heavyweight contest
“When you’re on the verge of a world title, and you’re mandatory, you just go, ‘You know what? We’re either going to sit and wait or have an easier fight, we don’t need to face this monster.’
“He went to the nail with Filip Hrgovic. I’m not saying he beat Hrgovic, but it was a really close, hard fight. So why do you need to face him?
“Because he’s got the defeat to Hrgovic, you’ve got nothing to gain and everything to lose. And so it played out for Joe Joyce.”