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Joe Joyce fought for the first time since losing to Zhilei Zhang in September by third-round knockout
Joe Joyce scored a long-awaited victory over Kash Ali in his first fight since being knocked out by 2016 Olympic medalist Zhang Jirayi.
Joyce, who lost his undefeated streak to Chan last year, was expected to dominate Ali in their undercard bout in Birmingham.
Joyce had trouble landing a finisher on Ali, but later grew in confidence.
Joyce eventually engaged in a brawl and won by knockout in the 10th round as Ali tired.
With seven seconds left in the final round, a short right hand sent Ali to the canvas for the first time all night.
The 32-year-old tried to stand up, but was slightly too late as the referee's count reached 10.
Ali was a clear underdog against Joyce, but endured some hard blows, landed a few of his own, and despite receiving some harsh words from his corner during the round. , acknowledged his achievements.
Joyce, on the other hand, looked unwieldy as he clearly still had the scars from his two knockout losses to Chan, but any doubts about his chin were put to rest as he shrugged off Ali's blows.
The 38-year-old called the 10-round non-title fight a “crossroads” in his career, from being the next champion to challenge for Oleksandr Usyk's WBO title to appearing on the undercard of Resorts World. It was headlined by Nathan Heaney vs. Brad Pauls at the Birmingham Arena.
Joyce had spoken of “dark times” and “being marginalized on social media”, but was expected to return to action against Ali.
But Ali is by no means mercurial, perhaps aware that it would be difficult to top the Rio 2016 silver medalist, and with some big shots from the off, including a huge overhand right in the third round. I tried.
With a three-and-a-half stone weight advantage, Joyce's punches should have hurt Ali more, but for most of the fight he brought little energy and forward momentum.
The match fell into a repeating pattern, with Joyce performing well enough to win each round, but not above the bare minimum. And even though he was knocked out with his last gasp, it wasn't enough to dispel his doubts.
Heaney retains belt after Pauls draw
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Nathan Heaney (left) fought Brad Pauls for the British middleweight title in the night's headline fight
In the headline event, Heaney retained his British middleweight title despite being held to a split draw by Pauls in a thrilling encounter.
Heaney, who won the title by defeating Denzel Bentley in Manchester last November, was making his first title defense and clearly intended to enjoy every second.
Heaney, born in Stoke-on-Trent, was taunted by a large crowd of Stoke City fans as he performed a long ring walk to the club's song, Tom Jones' 'Delilah'.
But Pauls was undaunted by the partisan atmosphere, landing heavy punches in the first half of the fight, while Heaney made the most of his three-inch height advantage to keep his challenger under control.
The fight really heated up in the eighth round, when “Newky Bomb” landed a series of hard right punches that left Heaney desperately clinging on.
The two fought to a near stalemate, with the highlight coming in the 11th round, when Paul landed a series of big shots on Heaney, who somehow got back to his feet and responded.
After such a great showing, the results were a mixed bag, with one judge giving Heaney 116-113, another 115-114 to Pauls, and a third deciding it was a tie 114-114 for the belt. He left it hanging around Heaney's waist.
