Heavyweight Joe Joyce scored a final-round stoppage on his comeback from two defeats in the most absurd manner imaginable. ‘The Juggernaut’ was miles ahead on the scorecards after pulverizing Kash Ali for most of the fight.
However, Ali hoped to go the distance with a significant name in the division. This was obvious from the beginning of the fight as Ali was in survival mode despite the odd overhand right that did connect on the target.
Referee Kevin Parker, an official of over a thousand contests, didn’t seem to grasp that eventuality.
Heavyweight Joe Joyce wins
Joyce, who weighed his heaviest ever and looked like it, was sluggish and slower than usual as he plodded through the ten rounds. With more power and a better chin than Ali, blowing off the damage from two poor defeats against Zhilei Zhang was inevitable.
Coming in five pounds more than his second loss to Zhang wasn’t ideal preparation, although facing someone like Ali gave Joyce an almost guaranteed victory.
Therefore, after racking up every round against the tiring West Midlander, it was easy work, as expected. Ali was drained for the final three rounds, but the determination shown by the veteran was commendable. He clearly wanted to get to the end and was motivated to do so by his corner.
Coach Richard Towers used some colorful language to get Ali over the line, and it looked like it had worked. The third man in the ring had other ideas to Ali’s detriment. Parker counted Ali after he went down from a late barrage by Joyce. There were less than twenty seconds on the clock to finish the fight. Parker reached a nine count as the clock ticked to under ten seconds left.
Unfathomable stoppage
But instead of giving Ali the benefit of the doubt as he got to his feet milliseconds before ten, Parker waved off the contest without seven seconds to go. Ali was devastated by the ending. Had Parker rubbed Ali’s gloves together and asked him if he were okay, those seven seconds would have elapsed, and the fight would have been over.
The claxon sounded for the final ten seconds, so Parker knew that Ali had only a very short time to survive. Rather than give that moral victory to the underdog, Parker ripped it away in ridiculous fashion.
Zero common sense was deployed, and Ali lost via knockout when it should have been a ten-round decision. The fact that Ali had never previously been stopped by any opponent was an even crueler twist.
As for Joyce, the Londoner wants one more crack at landing a significant Saudi Arabia fight after missing out following the two knockouts to ‘Big Bang’ Zhang on home soil. However, facing a more substantial foe and aiming for a rematch with Joseph Parker in the summer would have been a far more ambitious plan.
Read all articles and learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor Phil Jay.
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