Joe Joyce was seen laughing backstage with Zhilei Zhang on Saturday night after being knocked out by the Chinese heavyweight in their rematch.
Zhang landed a devastating right hook on Joyce that ended the fight in the third round, meaning he remains the WBO interim champion.
The 40-year-old asked the Wembley crowd: ‘Do you want to see me silence Tyson Fury?’ following his victory, although the WBO title for which he is now the mandatory challenger is held by Oleksandr Usyk.
Despite speaking through a translator, Zhang and Joyce appeared to be on good terms after the fight, as they laughed and hugged each other backstage.
They appeared to be talking about China, as the Juggernaut made everyone in the room laugh by telling his opponent, “I’ve been to the limit.”
Zhilei Zhang defeated Joe Joyce with a third-round knockout in their rematch on Saturday night
The two fighters laughed backstage after the fight when Joyce told Zhang: ‘I’ve been to the end’
They hugged after the fight, in which Zhang retained the WBO interim title he won from Joyce in their first fight.
After the fight, Zhang claimed he was happy with the win before turning his attention to his possible future opponents.
“I’m happy,” he told TNT Sports. “Like I said before the fight, it will end sooner than the first one. Joe, I like him, I respect him and I will let everyone witness Chinese power again.”
“This is what we are here for, we are professional fighters. We came to entertain the audience and we succeeded. I hope everyone enjoyed my performance.
“Thank you to everyone who came here today and witnessed my greatness on Chinese social media.”
Speaking to talkSPORT, Zhang said: “Very happy because everyone recognized me today.”
When asked if this was the best ending to his career, Zhang replied: “Yes, but I have to thank Joe Joyce for giving me this opportunity.
‘I just want to shut Tyson Fury up. He talks too much. We are boxers. We fight, we don’t talk. Tyson Fury talks too much.”
The Chinese fighter (right) delivered a devastating right hook to knock out Joyce (left) in the third round
He called on Tyson Fury, who is scheduled to fight UFC star Francis Ngannou next month after victory
Fury will face UFC star Francis Ngannou in his next fight on October 28 and could face Usyk in a unification bout later this year.
Speaking about what he would do with Anthony Joshua in the ring, Zhang said: “Same thing. They’re all going to sleep.’
For Joyce, the loss effectively ends his chances of challenging Usyk or Fury for a heavyweight belt.
He was undefeated before his first match against Zhang, but at 38 years old, it may be difficult to attract similar high-profile fights in the future.
