Former WBC interim heavyweight champion Joe Joyce (16-2, 15 KOs) defeated journeyman Kash Ali (21-3, 12 KOs) by 10th round KO in a confidence-boosting bout on Saturday. He gave a Foreman-like performance. Night at the World Resort Arena in Birmingham, UK.
Joyce, a large man standing 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 286 pounds, gradually wore down and exhausted Kash with pressure and sledgehammer blows. Joyce's power was great as always, but his weight slowed him down and made the fight a little more difficult than it should have been.
serious concern
The extra weight was a problem for Joyce, as he was too heavy to move around like he was used to when he was fighting in the mid-250s. For the past two years he has been eating way too well and it showed tonight.
In the 10th round, Joyce landed a picture-perfect right hand to Kash's head, dropping him as if he had been shot. To his credit, Kash looked like he wanted to get back up and continue the fight, but referee Kevin Parker chose to stop the match. The stoppage time was 2:53 of the 10th round.
If the fight had been allowed to continue, Joyce would have immediately dropped Kash again, as he was hurt, beaten, and exhausted from the punishment he had endured.
Joyce's shot looked slow overall, but it was a heavy punch like Foreman's with a lot of weight and power behind it. Kash took so many of them tonight that he ended up being stopped. He was ready to be stopped in the seventh round, but Joyce was unable to finish him off due to his slow hand speed and poor accuracy.
The win was for the 38-year-old Joyce, his first since September 2022 when he defeated Joseph Parker by 11th round KO. Joyce's previous two fights were KO'd by Zhang Zhilei.
After his second KO loss to Chan, many boxing fans felt that Joyce was done as a fighter, but tonight he proved he still has a lot left in him. All Joyce needs to do now is get in shape, lose 30 pounds and become more active. With any luck, the Saudis might choose him as one of their cards.
