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Joe Joyce and Zhilei Zhang will square off in a heavyweight rematch this weekend, five months after the Chinese boxer beat the Briton in London. Zhang, 40, forced a sixth-round stoppage by damaging Joyce’s eye to the point of closure, also taking the WBO interim title from the 38-year-old with the win. Now, as the pair return to London, Joyce will look to reverse the result and regain the gold – potentially setting up a bout with Oleksandr Usyk in the process. Can the “Juggernaut” avenge the first professional loss of his career? Or will “Big Bang” prove too explosive again? Here’s all you need to know. We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. When is the fight? Joyce vs Zhang 2 is set to take place on Saturday 23 September, at Wembley Arena in London. The main card is expected to begin at 7.30pm BST (11.30am PT, 1.30pm CT, 2.30pm ET), with ring walks for the main event due at around 10.30pm BST (2.30pm PT, 4.30pm CT, 5.30pm ET). How can I watch it? In the UK, the event will air live on TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport). In the US, ESPN+ will stream the action live. If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch the event, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN round-up is here to help and includes deals on VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are and also with the terms of their service provider. Odds Joyce – 21/20 Zhang – 17/20 Draw – 18/1 Full odds via Betway. • Get all the latest boxing betting sites’ offers Full card (subject to change) Zhilei Zhang (C) vs Joe Joyce 2 (WBO interim heavyweight title) Pierce O’Leary (C) vs Kane Gardner (WBC international super-lightweight) Anthony Yarde vs TBA (light-heavyweight) Sam Noakes vs Carlos Perez (lightweight) Zach Parker vs Khalid Graidia (super-middleweight) Ezra Taylor vs Joel McIntyre (light-heavyweight) Royston Barney-Smith vs TBA (super-featherweight) Moses Itauma vs Amine Boucetta (heavyweight) Tommy Fletcher vs Alberto Tapia (heavyweight) Aloys Youmbi vs Erik Nazaryan (cruiserweight) Sean Noakes vs Lukasz Barabasz (welterweight) Read More Desperation and danger: Joe Joyce revisits risky Zhilei Zhang clash Joe Joyce on heavyweight knockouts, oil painting, and teaching 60-year-olds to swim Heavyweight boxing is decaying before our eyes – no other sport would survive this idiocy What time does Joyce vs Zhang 2 start this weekend? How to watch Joyce vs Zhang 2 online and on TV this weekend Desperation and danger: Joe Joyce revisits risky Zhilei Zhang clash

Joe Joyce tasted defeat for the first time as a professional in April, when he suffered a TKO loss to Zhilei Zhang, and the Briton gets his shot at redemption this weekend. Zhang, 40, surprised the London crowd by outboxing Joyce and injuring the 37-year-old’s eye to the point that the referee stepped in during Round 6. In doing so, the Chinese heavyweight took the WBO interim title from Joyce, who will look to regain the belt on Saturday and potentially set up a clash with Oleksandr Usyk. Will it be a repeat or revenge for the “Juggernaut” as he takes on “Big Bang” again? Here’s all you need to know. We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. When is the fight? Joyce vs Zhang 2 is set to take place on Saturday 23 September, at Wembley Arena in London. The main card is expected to begin at 7.30pm BST (11.30am PT, 1.30pm CT, 2.30pm ET), with ring walks for the main event due at around 10.30pm BST (2.30pm PT, 4.30pm CT, 5.30pm ET). How can I watch it? In the UK, the event will air live on TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport). In the US, ESPN+ will stream the action live. If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch the event, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN round-up is here to help and includes deals on VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are and also with the terms of their service provider. Odds Joyce – 21/20 Zhang – 17/20 Draw – 18/1 Full odds via Betway. • Get all the latest boxing betting sites’ offers Full card (subject to change) Zhilei Zhang (C) vs Joe Joyce 2 (WBO interim heavyweight title) Pierce O’Leary (C) vs Kane Gardner (WBC international super-lightweight) Anthony Yarde vs TBA (light-heavyweight) Sam Noakes vs Carlos Perez (lightweight) Zach Parker vs Khalid Graidia (super-middleweight) Ezra Taylor vs Joel McIntyre (light-heavyweight) Royston Barney-Smith vs TBA (super-featherweight) Moses Itauma vs Amine Boucetta (heavyweight) Tommy Fletcher vs Alberto Tapia (heavyweight) Aloys Youmbi vs Erik Nazaryan (cruiserweight) Sean Noakes vs Lukasz Barabasz (welterweight) Read More Joe Joyce on heavyweight knockouts, oil painting, and teaching 60-year-olds to swim Heavyweight boxing is decaying before our eyes – no other sport would survive this idiocy Eddie Hearn: ‘Ask someone to name three people in boxing, they’ll say: Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, me’ Who is fighting on the Joyce vs Zhang 2 undercard this weekend? How to watch Joyce vs Zhang 2 online and on TV this weekend Joe Joyce on knockouts, oil painting, and teaching 60-year-olds to swim

Joe Joyce will bid for revenge against Zhilei Zhang this weekend, as the heavyweights meet in a rematch in London. When the pair clashed in the English capital in April, Zhang secured a stoppage in Round 6 after battering Joyce’s eye to the point of closure. The Chinese heavyweight, 40, will look to repeat the trick at Wembley Arena on Saturday, while his British opponent, 37, is aiming to get back to winning ways. A bout with Oleksandr Usyk could be on the cards for the winner, who will leave London as the WBO heavyweight champion – a status that Zhang took from Joyce in April. Here’s all you need to know. We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. When is the fight? Joyce vs Zhang 2 is set to take place on Saturday 23 September, at Wembley Arena in London. The main card is expected to begin at 7.30pm BST (11.30am PT, 1.30pm CT, 2.30pm ET), with ring walks for the main event due at around 10.30pm BST (2.30pm PT, 4.30pm CT, 5.30pm ET). How can I watch it? In the UK, the event will air live on TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport). In the US, ESPN+ will stream the action live. If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch the event, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN round-up is here to help and includes deals on VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are and also with the terms of their service provider. Odds Joyce – 21/20 Zhang – 17/20 Draw – 18/1 Full odds via Betway. • Get all the latest boxing betting sites’ offers Full card (subject to change) Zhilei Zhang (C) vs Joe Joyce 2 (WBO interim heavyweight title) Pierce O’Leary (C) vs Kane Gardner (WBC international super-lightweight) Anthony Yarde vs TBA (light-heavyweight) Sam Noakes vs Carlos Perez (lightweight) Zach Parker vs Khalid Graidia (super-middleweight) Ezra Taylor vs Joel McIntyre (light-heavyweight) Royston Barney-Smith vs TBA (super-featherweight) Moses Itauma vs Amine Boucetta (heavyweight) Tommy Fletcher vs Alberto Tapia (heavyweight) Aloys Youmbi vs Erik Nazaryan (cruiserweight) Sean Noakes vs Lukasz Barabasz (welterweight) Read More Joe Joyce on heavyweight knockouts, oil painting, and teaching 60-year-olds to swim Heavyweight boxing is decaying before our eyes – no other sport would survive this idiocy Eddie Hearn: ‘Ask someone to name three people in boxing, they’ll say: Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, me’ Who is fighting on the Joyce vs Zhang 2 undercard this weekend? What time does Joyce vs Zhang 2 start this weekend? Joe Joyce on knockouts, oil painting, and teaching 60-year-olds to swim

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There might be a crisis in the heavyweight division unless the television companies, the promoters, the chancers, the tyrants at the sanctioning bodies, the fixers and the fighters start to realise that they are part of a rich history. The heavyweight division is not a random board game, a place where a good spin can turn the world upside down and a place where all sense of perspective is lost. It is not a game, but it is being run like a crazy game of chance. Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder are circling each other with very little real indication that they will fight each other. In many ways, the crisis point was a long, long time ago. There was a bold claim about six months ago that Saudi Arabian riches would transform the heavyweight division, a claim that over $400m was on the table for the leading four men to meet on one night in two fights. A lot of so-called media were delivered to Riyadh and told the hefty Four Kings would fight, it would be in December, and the heavyweight fairy tale would be complete. The chosen insiders were quick to assure everyone that the money was real, the conviction was real and that it would happen. It fell apart; Fury walked away, Usyk kept busy, Wilder and Joshua are still, in theory, part of a crazy plan. However, even their fight in Saudi in January or February is starting to look more and more like a mirage in that fighting desert. Eddie Hearn, the promoter of Joshua, has not yet ruled the fight out. Usyk’s promoter, Alex Krassyuk, has not yet ruled out a Fury fight. Wilder’s people flew to Saudi to do a direct deal with the promotional company there, so presumably they are still part of the circus. Fury, meanwhile, will fight in Riyadh next month, but his fight with former UFC champion Francis Ngannou is being promoted by another branch of the Saudi government. It is difficult to keep up with this soap opera with blood. Ngannou, incidentally, has never had a single boxing match as an amateur or a professional; his 10 rounds with Fury have recently been given a belt by the WBC. It will not be for Fury’s actual WBC heavyweight title, which I guess is a small mercy. The new Saudi belt, complete with diamonds and gold, is still a belt and that means Ngannou, who is being trained by Mike Tyson, will fight for a WBC belt in his first ever appearance in a boxing ring. Shame on the WBC and their desperate attempt to be relevant. I have no problem with the fight, no problem with crossover events, but the WBC’s decision to award the winner a belt is pathetic. The WBC representative in Riyadh will need sharp elbows to get his face on television, because the Saudi families tend to flood the post-fight ring. Ngannou, incidentally, has been measured to possess the hardest punch in history. It is hard to invent this glorious nonsense. Fury has gone down this route because the money is there, and he is sick and tired of the relentless negotiations for a fight with either Usyk or Joshua. He is, it must be said, not entirely innocent. Although it is hard to blame Fury for going down the Ngannou route, talk of a rematch under mixed martial arts rules is slightly alarming. It is probably harmless chat, but the WBC needs to decide how long they will let their champion loose in the lawless playground of celebrity and crossover fights. There is simply no order, no strict rules, and nobody in a position to call a halt to the anarchy. In the last 12 months, Joshua has fought twice, staying busy and learning with his new coach; Fury has not fought since beating Derek Chisora for the third time last December in defence of his WBC title; Wilder has not been near a ring this year; Usyk stopped Daniel Dubois last month to retain his WBO, WBA and IBF titles. Dubois, incidentally, officially launched an appeal against the decision in that fight, claiming that the fight should have been stopped in Round 5 when he landed what he considers a legitimate body shot. Usyk was instead given nearly four minutes to recover. Krassyuk has ruled out a rematch, insisting that the punch was low and illegal. It means that in 2023, with two champions owning four recognised belts, with a lot of television backing and with a lot of quality contenders, there will be only one world heavyweight title fight. It is crazy and self-harming, and no other sport would survive such idiocy. Boxing has always been in a race against time, a race to get as much money as possible, as quickly and safely as possible, but this decaying state is so bad for business that it will hurt the business going forward. Read More Fans tear apart Tyson Fury over claim that Francis Ngannou poses tougher test than Oleksandr Usyk Watch moment topless Tyson Fury goads Francis Ngannou into taking his shirt off during press conference Sean Strickland shocks Israel Adesanya and MMA world with title win at UFC 293 Eddie Hearn outlines ‘deluded’ plan for Anthony Joshua Tyson Fury urged to highlight Saudi Arabia’s ‘disturbing’ human rights record What is an exhibition fight and how is it different to a professional bout?

Tyson Fury has sparked backlash from boxing fans after claiming that Francis Ngannou poses a tougher test than Oleksandr Usyk. Fury will box former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on 28 October, after talks with Usyk collapsed earlier this year. A bout between WBC champion Fury and unified champion Usyk would have crowned the first undisputed heavyweight champion in more than 20 years. Instead, Usyk went on to beat mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois in August, ahead of Fury’s fight with Ngannou – in which the WBC belt is not on the line. Speaking to Fight Hub TV on Thursday, Fury said: “Has [undisputed] ever been my priority? Did I ever say I wanted undisputed? It’s always been some other b***h’s dream, hasn’t it? ‘Undisputed, road to undisputed’. “Listen, I’ve got Francis Ngannou to deal with. And should the other little sausage want to fight for undisputed, then if he takes a small percentage, we might make it happen. But if he wants a large bag, I’m gonna say: ‘No, thank you’.” Ukrainian Usyk accepted a purse split of 75-25 per cent in Fury’s favour, only for talks to fall apart due to negotiations around the purse split in the rematch clause. “I’ve not said anything, I’ve not even been out in public,” Fury said. “Have you heard anything from me at all? Since all of this, I’ve not said anything. “[The reports] are all untrue, because if you didn’t hear me say it, it’s not true. The truth of the matter was, him and his team were s***houses. They got offered the fight at Wembley, it didn’t happen, and then we moved on. That was it. “Now I’m fighting Francis Ngannou, who’s stepping up to the plate. And I think he’s gonna be a bit of a bigger, tougher challenge than these other guys. These other guys are just boxers; this guy’s more than that.” Fans took to the comment section to hit out at Fury, 35, for the latter claim. “Total joke,” wrote one user. “It’s almost like Fury is going out of his way to make boxing fans depressed. I still think Fury is an excellent boxer but I’ve also lost all respect for him now.” Another wrote, “Strip Tyson. WBC credibility almost gone,” while one said: “Fury is trying so hard to make it out like this event isn’t a complete embarrassment.” Another comment read: “What a disgrace to boxing! Usyk seeking to become undisputed while this clown is doing everything in his power to avoid him and keeping the last belt in his hands.” Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Tyson Fury claims he would beat Francis Ngannou in MMA fight Watch moment topless Tyson Fury goads Francis Ngannou into taking his shirt off during press conference Why Fury vs Ngannou may tarnish the Gypsy King’s legacy forever Chris Eubank Jr’s coach remanded in custody following airport arrest Tyson Fury urged to highlight Saudi Arabia’s ‘disturbing’ human rights record Tyson Fury claims he would beat Francis Ngannou in MMA fight Former Tyson Fury opponent backs Francis Ngannou to drop ‘Gypsy King’

Tyson Fury hit back at his critics at the launch press conference of his boxing contest with mixed martial arts fighter Francis Ngannou before he hinted at a second bout between the pair in the octagon. Fury has faced plenty of scrutiny since it was announced in July that he would next step in the ring with former UFC world heavyweight champion Ngannou on October 28 in Saudi Arabia. While it will be a boxing contest that lasts 10 rounds in Riyadh, Fury’s WBC heavyweight title will not be on the line and this bout occurs amid the backdrop of a potential unification clash with WBA, IBF and WBO-belt holder Oleksandr Usyk falling through. The Gypsy King was at his charismatic best in London for the fight dubbed ‘Battle of the Baddest’ but aimed at a dig at the media and his detractors who question why he has not been able to arrange a clash for the ages with Usyk. “I have to take my hat off to Francis for his story, where he has come from, the fight, the grind and the determination to get to where he is. He was a young boy in Africa with a big dream and everybody at home probably laughed at him,” Fury explained. “But I won’t laugh at anyone because I know man’s struggle. I come from a place where everything is possible. I may not be here today if things had gone differently so I never underestimate anybody. The media say he has no chance. “I say if I go to the boozer and get in a brawl with a drunken guy, if he hits me, he may knock me out so how am I not going to prepare 100 per cent for an absolute killing machine who is trying to take my brains out? I will give Francis the respect he 100 per cent deserves. “I need to bring my A-game because there is more on the line than a boxing fight. If I lose to an MMA guy, I will never be able to show my face in public again and I will be ridiculed. People will chuck it at me forever. “So, if the media want to take it as a joke or whatever, make no mistake I will come into this leaving zero stones unturned. I will come in at my fittest, strongest and at the best I have ever been. If I am not, if I get knocked out, I want people to laugh at me.” Both of Fury’s promoters, Frank Warren of Queensberry and Top Rank’s Bob Arum, predicted entertainment will be guaranteed next month, but boxing fans will wonder what is next for Britain’s world heavyweight champion. Talk continues to rumble on over if Fury could fight compatriot Anthony Joshua in 2024 or if a unification clash may happen with Usyk after the Lancashire boxer beat Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora last year in one-sided fights. Yet, the 35-year-old dropped a big hint there could be a second tale between himself and Ngannou, who is preparing for his boxing debut. Fury insisted: “I think I could beat you in the cage. I would kick your a*** in the cage, no problem. One hundred per cent. Personally, I will beat you in the boxing ring and then kick your a*** in the cage.” This fight will kick off Riyadh season in Saudi Arabia and Fury provided a chilling prophecy of what the future could hold in store for the Middle East country, which is repeatedly criticised by anti-human rights groups and accused of sportswashing. He added: “It is a very special event for me and a special time in sports where a powerhouse like Saudi Arabia are coming in taking over the game. They are taking over football, taking over boxing, I think within five to 10 years they will be the powerhouse of all sports. All the big sporting events will be in Saudi Arabia somewhere.” Ngannou will realise a dream by fighting as a professional boxer for the first time and has help from Mike Tyson, who will be in his corner. Boasting a record of 12 knock-outs in his 17 UFC contests, the 37-year-old from Cameroon promised if his punch lands, it will knock out Fury. “I ask myself what will happen at the moment that guy hits the floor and doesn’t get up? Does that make me best boxer in the world? If you take out number one, it makes you number one,” Ngannou pondered. “If it does land, goodnight. Lights off. What do you think will happen? This is a heavyweight fight and that is what is very exciting about heavyweight fights. “We know everybody in the heavyweight division can knock each other out. I am going in there to fight. To hit and not get hit. That is the rules of boxing and I am very aware of that.” Read More Tyson Fury claims he would beat Francis Ngannou in MMA fight Former Tyson Fury opponent backs Francis Ngannou to drop ‘Gypsy King’ Tyson Fury takes thinly-veiled swipe at Usyk over ‘low blow’ in Daniel Dubois fight Eddie Nketiah wins England call-up – Thursday’s sporting social The Independent’s pound-for-pound boxing rankings Usyk remains heavyweight champion but where does he go from here?