Zhilei Zhang scored a third round stoppage over Joe Joyce to retain his interim WBO Heavyweight Title at Wembley Arena in London, England.

Zhang dominated the action and at the end of round three, landed a booming right hook on the jaw that put Joyce on the canvas face-first. Joyce got to his feet, but the fight was waved off at 3:07.

Zhang of China is now 26-1-1 with 21 knockouts. Joyce of London is 15-2.

The fight was a rematch of a Zhang stoppage from April.

Former two-time world title challenger Anthony Yarde stopped very late replacement Jorge Silva in round two of their light heavyweight fight.

In round two, Yarde landed a right hand that dumped Silva in the corner and the fight was stopped at 2:07.

Yarde, 177.9 lbs of Essex, ENG is now 24-3 with 23 knockouts. Silva, 178 lbs of Portugal is 22-9.

Ezra Taylor scored a eighth and final round stoppage over Joel Mcintyre in a light heavyweight bout.

Taylor dominated the bout and then opened up a big flurry in the corner and got the last second stoppage at 2:59.

Taylor, 176 lbs of Nottingham, ENG is 7=0 with five knockouts. Mcintyre, 178 lbs of Portsmouth, ENG is 20-8.

Tommy Fletcher dropped Alberto Tapia five times en-route to a fourth-round stoppage in a scheduled six-round cruiserweight bout.

In round one, Fletcher dropped Tapia with a hard straight left to the body. At the end of the round, Fletcher landed an uppercut that put Tapia on his knee. In round two, Fletcher landed a left on the inside that put Tapia down once again. Later in the round Fletcher scored a fourth knockdown with a left to the body. In round three, Fletcher dumped Tapia yet again with a left to the body.

In round four, Fletcher landed a flurry that included a hard right hook to the head and a straight left that forced the corner to throw in the towel at 1:28.

Fletcher, 198.2 lbs of Norfolk, ENG is 6-0 with five knockouts. Tapia, 197.5 lbs of Spain is 3-5.

Sean Noakes remained undefeated with a six-round decision over Lukasz Barabasz in a junior middleweight bout.

Noakes won by a 59-55 score and is now 6-0. Barabasz is now 2-9.

NOTTINGHAM Light-Heavyweight hope Ezra Taylor has signed promotional terms with Frank Warren’s Queensberry.

Taylor, 26, won a string of regional amateur titles but is now chasing bigger belts in the professional ranks, and believes he has the platform to achieve that.

His only professional fight was in March 2020 when he stopped Jevgenijs Andrejevs inside two rounds.

Taylor is trained by Ray Ricketts who coached him as an amateur at Bilborough Community Boxing Club and managed by former professional Costas Evangelou.

“Costas pulled the strings and put a good word in for me. I’m guessing Frank’s guys did their research and after a few meetings a deal was signed,” said Taylor who will box on a Queensberry show in July.

Thanks to sponsors, Taylor is now a full-time fighter and recently left his job as a sales account manager.

Ezra whose boxing heroes are Roy Jones Jr and Andre Ward added: “I was selling a dream to people, now I have bought the dream I have been sold.

“This is fantastic opportunity and I have some great people behind me. I will give it everything that it takes.

“In the first year I want to get as many fights as possible behind me adapting to what it is like when the pressure is on as a professional.

“Hopefully I will be build myself up, challenge for titles, win them and move on to the next one until I reach the top.”

Taylor first walked into a boxing gym in his early teens, but never expected to even compete as an amateur let alone earn a professional contract with a Hall of Fame promoter.

He explained: “I started when I was about 14, but I was only going to the boxing gym once a week to keep fit.

“Eventually I had to spar with guys who lived boxing, were in the gym most nights and competing as amateurs. I started getting beat up.

“I just wanted to be fit, fling a skipping rope around and tell my friends I was hitting the bag in the boxing gym.

“I lost interest, but still used a gym and eventually I got a bit of height and muscle. I went back to the boxing gym when I was 19-years-old, again for fitness and the rest is history.

“I was 20-3 as an amateur, my only losses came at elite level and I won five regional belts, but I was stepped up quickly because I was a late starter.

“It was a tough amateur career. Four fights in I was fighting guys who had 20 fights and that’s a lot in experience terms.

“On paper, I was meant to lose but I kept the momentum going and ended up in the elite championships early on.

“I’m grateful it happened because a lot of these kids have about 70 fights and it wasn’t a walk in the park. It made me the boxer I am today.”