Joe Joyce Stops Christian Hammer in Four; Zolani Tete KOs Cunningham

In a stay-busy, shake-off-the-rust fight, Joe Joyce returned to the ring after an absence of almost one full year and stopped Christian Hammer in the fourth round at London’s Wembley Arena. Joyce, a 2016 Olympic silver medalist, ranked #1 by the WBO, took this assignment after former heavyweight titlist Joseph Parker pulled out after signing with a rival promoter.

Hammer, a Romania-born German who brought a 27-9 record, won the first round as Joyce’s defense was lacking. But the six-foot-six, thick-limbed Joyce, who has a rock-solid chin, was never deterred from pressing the action. His nickname, Juggernaut, is an apt fit.

Hammer was poorly conditioned and went down four times before the bout was halted. But on three of those trips to the mat, he took a knee in hopes of getting a second wind. The first of those four knockdowns came as the bell was sounding to end round three. The official time was 1:20 of round four.

At age 36, Joyce, a native Londoner and former U.S. college cheerleader, needs to be more active and his promoter Frank Warren indicated that he hopes to have him back in the ring in September. With today’s victory, he improved his ledger to 14-0 (13 KOs).

Co-Feature

South Africa’s Zolani Tete, a former world title-holder at 115 and 118 pounds, resurrected his flagging career and acquired a pair of regional belts with a brutal fourth-round stoppage of Doncaster’s Jason Cunningham.

Cunningham did very little in the first three rounds, but there was no indication that the end was imminent. But early in round four, Tete knocked him down with an overhand right and when Cunningham arose he went right for the kill, landing a flurry of punches, the last of which sent Cunningham down hard, his head bouncing on the canvas. The referee waived it off immediately and Cunningham needed medical attention before leaving the ring under his own power. The official time was 0:34 of round four.

Doncaster’s Cunningham, who declined to 31-7, entered the contest in excellent form, riding a 7-fight winning streak. The victorious Tete who had largely disappeared from the scene after suffering a shock KO at the hands of John Riel Casimero, missing all of 2020, improved to 30-4 (23 KOs).

Also

A scheduled 10-round light heavyweight clash between former world title challengers Callum Johnson and Igor Mikhalkin was cancelled on Thursday when Johnson pulled out with an undisclosed injury.

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