Joe Joyce vs Zhilei Zhang: date, time, undercard and how to watch

Joe Joyce returns to the ring to face Zhilei Zhang in a fight which has huge implications on the future of the heavyweight division.

Joyce enters the bout with an unbeaten record of 15 wins with his most notable victories coming against big name opponents such as Daniel Dubois, Carlos Takam and most recently Joseph Parker.

Joyce has aspirations of becoming a world champion in the near future and a victory in this fight will put him a step closer to a showdown with either Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Uysk.

Zhang has title aspirations of his own and is hoping to become China’s first ever heavyweight champion. He enters the ring with an impressive record of 24 victories, one draw and one defeat.

Both fighters are known for their impressive knockout power and the upcoming showdown has attracted great intrigue from many boxing fans around the world.

But when is Joe Joyce’s fight with Zhilei Zhang and what channel is it on? Here is everything you need to know.

When is Joe Joyce vs Zhilei Zhang?

Joe Joyce and Zhilei Zhang meet in a 12-round heavyweight battle on Saturday 15 April. The fight is taking place at the Copper Box Arena in Stratford, east London.

The undercard gets underway at 5pm UK time and the main event is scheduled to start at around 10.30pm. These timings are subject to change slightly depending on the length of the undercard fights.

Who is on the undercard?

Mikaela Mayer makes her lightweight debut on the undercard and she is hoping to recover from her split decision defeat to Alycia Baumgardner in October. She takes on two-time light welterweight world champion Christina Linardatou.

Denzel Bentley and Kieran Smith go head-to-head for the British middleweight title, while eyes are also on exciting heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma as he takes on Kostiantyn Dovbyschenko.

Exact timings for the fights have not been confirmed but the undercard is expected to get underway at 5pm.

Here is the schedule for the undercard:

• Joel Kuda vs Dale Arrowsmith 
• Seth Gyimah vs Darryl Sharp
• Moses Itauma vs Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko
• Ethan James vs Georgi Velichkov 
• Sonny Ali vs Richard Helm 
• Sam Noakes vs Karthik Sathish Kumar 
• Denzel Bentley vs Kieran Smith 
• Mikaela Mayer vs Christina Linardatou 

Main Event - Joe Joyce vs Zhilei Zhang

How to watch Joe Joyce vs Zhilei Zhang

Joe Joyce’s fight with Zhilei Zhang will be shown live on BT Sport 1 and BT Sport Ultimate, with live coverage beginning at 7pm. BT Sport customers can also live stream all the action on the BT Sport APP which is available to download on a mobile phone or electronic device. EE customers can also watch the action for free with a 3 month trial by texting SPORT to 150.

Who is the favourite to win between Joe Joyce and Zhilei Zhang?

There are a number of similarities between Joe Joyce and Zhilei Zhang which makes the fight an intriguing watch for boxing fans.

Both fighters made the successful transition from amateur boxing to professional level after the age of 30 and the pair have both won medals for their countries in the Olympic games with Zhang picking up silver in 2008 and Joyce winning silver in 2016.

Joyce and Zhang both stand at 6ft 6 in height and are renowned for their knockout power with a combined 33 knockouts between them.

Despite their similarities the bookmakers have Joe Joyce as the clear favourite to come out on top in the fight and maintain his unbeaten status.

Joyce has odds of 6/1 to win the fight with SkyBet meanwhile Zhang has been given odds of 6/1 to come out on top. A draw is currently priced at 16/1. (Odds are correct as of Friday 14 April)