Joe Joyce was dealt a major blow in his pursuit of a world title shot as he suffered a stunning stoppage defeat to China's Zhilei Zhang at the Copper Box Arena on Saturday night.
The Juggernaut relinquished his WBO Interim belt as his 39-year-old opponent produced a commanding display to force the referee to bring the contest to a halt in the sixth round.
Severe swelling to the eye of Joyce told the story of Zhang's incredible power, the damage eventually proving too much as Howard Foster was forced to step in at the midway point.
It marked the first professional defeat of Joyce's career while for Zhang it was the perfect response to his divisive first career defeat at the hands of Filip Hrgovic in their IBF title eliminator last August.
Build-up to the fight had forecast a potential match-up with the likes of Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk or Anthony Joshua for Joyce, but this was Zhang's night and the victor made known his own intentions to chase down the title holders.
