Joe Joyce’s return to the ring ended in disappointing fashion after the British heavyweight was stopped by unbeaten Russian Artem Suslenkov in Moscow, raising fresh doubts over the future of his boxing career.
The 40-year-old was competing for the first time since his defeat to Filip Hrgovic in April 2025, but struggled to make an impact throughout the contest. Joyce appeared sluggish, failed to trouble his opponent with meaningful power and gradually fell behind as the fight progressed.
The bout came to an unusual conclusion in the 11th round. Joyce stepped backwards and appeared to indicate he no longer wished to continue, leaving himself exposed as Suslenkov landed several unanswered punches before the referee intervened to wave the contest off.
The defeat leaves Joyce with a professional record of 16 wins and five losses. All five defeats have come in his past six outings, marking a dramatic decline for the former Olympic silver medallist.
Joyce enjoyed the finest moment of his professional career in 2022 when he defeated Joseph Parker to claim the interim WBO heavyweight title. However, back-to-back stoppage losses to Zhilei Zhang in 2023 ended his unbeaten run, and another defeat against Hrgovic further dented his standing among the division’s leading contenders.
Following the Hrgovic loss, promoter Frank Warren suggested Joyce needed to carefully consider his future in the sport. Although the Londoner insisted he had spent a full year preparing for his comeback and was eager to return, the latest performance has intensified speculation that retirement could now be the most likely outcome.
Suslenkov, 30, maintained his perfect professional record by improving to 15-0 with the biggest victory of his career.
Former Great Britain teammate Anthony Fowler reacted to the result on social media, describing it as a sad ending to Joyce’s career and expressing disappointment at the manner of the defeat.
Joyce’s fight featured on the undercard of Murat Gassiev’s first defence of the WBA heavyweight title. Gassiev, who became champion after Oleksandr Usyk vacated his remaining heavyweight belts last month, had originally been due to face France’s Tony Yoka before injury forced a late change. Germany’s Peter Kadiru stepped in as the replacement, but Gassiev retained his title with a sixth-round stoppage victory, improving his professional record to 34 wins and two defeats.