Joe Joyce vs Kash Ali: Fight time, undercard, latest odds, prediction, ring walks tonight
Joe Joyce tonight makes his return to the ring in a must-win all-British heavyweight clash with Kash Ali in Birmingham.
‘The Juggernaut’ is bidding to revive his career after those gruelling back-to-back stoppage defeats by Zhilei Zhang, who has emphatically derailed the world title hopes of his fellow Olympic silver medalist.
Joyce lost the WBO interim title and valued status as one of the mandatory challengers to unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk that he had won with a thrilling late stoppage of Joseph Parker in his first fight against Zhang 11 months ago, when ambitions of a massive payday were extinguished by the heavy-hitting ‘Big Bang’, who battered his opponent and caused major swelling around the eye that led to the bout being waved off in the sixth round.
Joyce vowed to quickly avenge his shock first professional boxing loss, though the rematch was even more brutal as Zhang - who would go on to lose against Parker on the Anthony Joshua-Francis Ngannou undercard in Saudi Arabia last weekend - produced a devastating third-round knockout.
Turning 39 in September, time is of the essence for Joyce in his comeback bid, starting tonight.
Rotherham heavyweight Ali is 21-2 and coming off a dispiriting points defeat by Ukraine’s Bohdan Myronets on his last outing in Edinburgh last summer. He previously reigned as the IBF European champion but has fought just twice since 2021, struggling with injury.
Ali is best known for receiving a six-month ban in April 2019 after being disqualified for biting David Price in the fifth round of their bad-tempered fight in Liverpool. He was also fined £10,000.
Joe Joyce vs Kash Ali date, start time, venue and ring walks
Joe Joyce vs Kash Ali takes place on Saturday March 16, 2024 at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham.
The fight takes place on the undercard of Nathan Heaney defending his British middleweight title against Brad Pauls and European super-bantamweight champion Liam Davies’ IBO world title challenge against Mexico’s Erik Robles Ayala. The so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ card is promoted by Frank Warren and Queensbury.
The main undercard is due to start at 7pm GMT, with Joyce and Ali expected to be in the ring at around 10pm. The exact timings are subject to change.
Joe Joyce vs Kash Ali fight card/undercard in full
As well as Davies vs Ayala and Heaney vs Pauls, Dennis McCann and Brad Strand square off for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental super-bantamweight title, while the WBO European and vacant English welterweight belts are on the line as Eithan James meets Owen Cooper.
Pierce O’Leary also takes on Belgium’s Hovhannes Martirosyan with the WBC International super-lightweight title up for grabs.
Nathan Heaney vs Brad Pauls
Liam Davies vs Erik Robles Ayala
Dennis McCann vs Brad Strand
Eithan James vs Owen Cooper
Pierce O'Leary vs Hovhannes Martirosyan
Joe Joyce vs Kash Ali
Zach Parker vs Tyron Zeuge
Ezra Taylor vs Prince Oko Nartey
How to watch Joe Joyce vs Kash Ali
TV channel: In the UK, Saturday night’s event is being broadcast live on TNT Sports 1, with coverage beginning at 6:30pm.
Live stream: Fight fans with a TNT Sports subscription can also view the card live online via the Discovery+ app and website.
Joe Joyce vs Kash Ali fight prediction
This should be a very straightforward comeback fight indeed for Joyce, who needs to get his confidence back with a commanding victory after those successive bruising defeats by Zhang that flattened his world title dreams when he was pushing to meet the likes of Usyk, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
Ali is not to be underestimated, but he should prove absolutely no match for The Juggernaut and has evidently been picked as someone Joyce’s promoters are obviously very confident that he can defeat with little trouble.
Expect Joyce to come out firing from the first bell and secure a heavy early knockout to begin his path back to heavyweight relevancy.
Joyce to win by early knockout.
Joe Joyce vs Kash Ali weigh-in results
Joyce tipped the scales at a career-heavy 286.1lbs, while Ali came in at 238.1lbs.
Joe Joyce vs Kash Ali betting odds
Joe Joyce to win: 1/20
Kash Ali to win: 9/1
Draw: 25/1
Joe Joyce to win on points or by decision: 13/2
Joe Joyce to win by knockout or technical knockout: 1/7
Kash Ali to win on points or by decision: 35/1
Kash Ali to win by knockout or technical knockout: 11/1