{"id":288646,"date":"2023-09-23T07:35:47","date_gmt":"2023-09-23T07:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/?p=288646"},"modified":"2023-09-23T07:35:47","modified_gmt":"2023-09-23T07:35:47","slug":"joyce-explains-why-hes-using-skateboarding-in-preparation-for-zhang-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/boxing\/joyce-explains-why-hes-using-skateboarding-in-preparation-for-zhang-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"Joyce explains why he’s using skateboarding in preparation for Zhang fight"},"content":{"rendered":"
Joe Joyce is not your average heavyweight – so he didn\u2019t deal with defeat like any other boxer would.<\/p>\n
The Putney puncher suffered his first professional loss at the hands of China\u2019s Zhilei Zhang in April. It was the first time he had lost since the controversial defeat by France\u2019s Tony Yoka in the 2016 Olympic final.<\/p>\n
Joyce, 38, is back in the ring with Zhang on Saturday night at Wembley Arena as he looks to get his world title dream back on track. But it was solace on a one-wheel skateboard which helped the British fighter put the loss behind him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got out in nature on my one wheel skateboard thing, that helped me,\u201d he said. \u201cGoing to see family and friends. Reviewing the footage as well and seeing where I went wrong. t wasn\u2019t that I was thinking, it was a distraction and something to feel good about and enjoy.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI have hobbies away from boxing, I swim, dive, cycle and the one wheel is my new thing. It helps me take my mind off it and enjoy life. It means it\u2019s not boxing, boxing, boxing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joyce was stopped in the sixth round after his eye swelled up grotesquely and he was not fit to continue in his 16th outing. It meant he surrendered the WBO \u2018interim\u2019 belt but more importantly the No 1 position with the sanctioning body whose title is in the hands of unified champion Oleksandr Usyk.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve made a lot of minor adjustments in the build up some of the things with the team, and tactics and weight,\u201d Joyce said. "I\u2019m coming in more practised and prepared. I was a little bit light, Zhang was heavier and stronger.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to make sure I was eating right and eating enough. When I started previous camp I was already on fight weight so it was hard for me to keep the weight on. It was just something in my protein shake that wasn\u2019t agreeing with me.<\/p>\n
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\u201cMaybe I overlooked him a bit and got tactics wrong, there were some minor last minute changes and weren\u2019t practised. This time they have been practised and hopefully it will be a better outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joyce mulled over the rematch clause which he could trigger as he recovered from a nose fracture while Zhang tried to push for a fight with WBC champion Tyson Fury.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t going to wait,\u201d he said. \u201cEspecially with how the mandatories go. Daniel Dubois has had his chance with Usyk, now it\u2019s Filip Hrgovic with the IBF so then it should be the WBO interim champion. I will be back in time and nothing will have changed so I had to take the rematch.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard enough when you\u2019re No 1, mandatory and interim champion and still waiting for the undisputed fight, so these fights take so long so you don\u2019t have time to waste going around the long way. I was in the fight and I can beat him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joyce admitted he struggled with the silence in the dressing room in the aftermath of defeat while the invincibility around him disappeared even if it wasn\u2019t his granite chin which cracked but he will show he\u2019s more than just a tough guy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know my strengths and weaknesses,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the boxing media building me up as \u2018look at his chin\u2019 but that\u2019s not what I\u2019m all about. I\u2019m going to be a world champion. That\u2019s what I got in it for – to be successful. I enjoy the lifestyle, the excitement and the challenge that comes with boxing.\u201d<\/p>\n
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