Joe Joyce vs Kash Ali Preview March 16th, 2024
England’s Joe Joyce is back in action this Saturday, March 16th when he takes on fellow countryman Kash Ali in a 10-round heavyweight battle. The fight from Ali’s hometown of Birmingham, can be seen live in America on ESPN+ while fans in the UK and Ireland can catch it on TNT Sports 1. Joyce last fought in September when he was stopped in the third round Zhilei Zhang in a rematch. The two first met in April with Zhang taking the WBO Interim belt when the doctor stopped the fight in the sixth round due to Joyce’s damaged right eye. Joyce had won the vacant WBO Interim Title last September by stopping former world champion Joseph Parker in the 11th round in a highly-entertaining fight. Parker then beat Zhang by majority decision just a week ago to take the WBO Interim Belt. Ali last boxed in July when he dropped a six-round points decision to Bohdan Mronets.
Joyce vs Ali Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Kash Ali +900
- Joe Joyce -1800
My Pick
The 38-year-old Joyce didn’t turn pro until late in 2017 after a fine amateur career which saw him win gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 European Games. He also took home a silver from the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the super-heavyweight division when he lost the gold-medal match to Tony Yoka of France. Joyce owns a impressive record of 15-2 with 14 wins coming by way of knockout.
He stands 6-feet-6-inches tall with an 80-inch reach and it’s obvious he has some power in his fists as 93.3 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage. His opponents so far have been Zhang, former World Champion Joseph Parker, Christian Hammer, Carlos Takam, Daniel Dubois, Michael Wallisch, Bryant Jennings, Alexander Ustinov, former WBC World Champion Bermane Stiverne, Ian Lewison, Rudolf Jozic, Donnie Palmer, Lenroy Thomas, Ivica Bacurin, Iago Kiladze and Joe Hanks.
It may not be the cream of the crop in the heavyweight division but it’s a solid list and each one of his opponents had a winning record. Joyce has also won several WBC and WBO minor belts as he captured the British, European and Commonwealth Titles when he halted young prospect Daniel Dubois in the 10th round in 2020. He also won the vacant WBA Continental Heavyweight Belt when he beat Hanks in 2018.
Joyce’s boxing skills haven’t had a chance to be showcased very often though as he has four first-round Ko’s as well as one in the second and two in the third and has boxed just 83 rounds since turning pro. The only time he’s gone the distance as a pro was against Bryant, who lasted 12 rounds in July, 2019 but dropped a unanimous decision. Even though he was stopped twice by Zhang, Joyce owns a pretty good chin as Parker nailed him with some bombs last year and he took them well. However, his eye worsened against Zhang round after round as Joyce absorbed some punishing jabs and left hands.
As for Ali, the 32-year-old is best known for his last name and for being disqualified in a 2019 fight against David Price in the fifth round when he bit him. He enters the ring with a mark of 21-2 with 12 Ko’s and has just 89 rounds of experience under his belt since turning pro back in 20111. He measures 6-feet-6-inches tall with an unlisted reach so is the same height as Joyce. As far as power is concerned, Ali is just above average as 57.1 per cent of his victories have been by stoppage, including his last four.
The first defeat for Ali came when he was disqualified against Price and the only other loss was to Myronets in his last outing. Ali won the vacant British Central Area Heavyweight Title in 2018 when he stopped David Howe in the second round. He then captured the vacant IBF European Heavyweight Belt in 2021 by halting Tomas Salek in the third round. He also has two wins over Kamil Sokolowski but just seven of his 23 opponents climbed into the ring with a winning record.
Prediction…
Joyce is back in the ring to build up his confidence but he’ll still need to be focused as Ali has enough power to do some damage. Joyce has pretty good overall boxing skills but it’s usually his own power that ends fights. As long as he’s not gun shy, I expect Joyce to bounce back with a win against Ali. He may have to go the 10-round distance to do it though. And speaking of 10 rounds, Ali has never gone past seven during his career.
Joyce’s power and experience should be the difference.
Play Joyce -1800 @ BetOnline.ag
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Joe Joyce betting • Kash Ali betting