JOE JOYCE was taken to hospital due to the horror eye injury he suffered in defeat to Zhilei Zhang.
Joyce was left with gruesome swelling following six rounds of left hands and combinations from Zhang.
It gave referee Howard Foster no choice but to stop the contest following the advice of the ringside doctor.
And beaten and bruised Joyce revealed after his first defeat that he would take a precautionary trip to the hospital.
He said: "I couldn't get away from his straight left.
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"He kept on nailing me in the eye and it swelled up my eye. I can still see through it, but I think it's just bruised.
"But just a formality, I have to go to hospital now to get check it's not like fractured or anything."
According to iFL TV, the overnight hospital checks revealed no fractures to the eye.
Joyce's title hopes have been left in tatters following the shock technical knockout loss.
Speaking out on Instagram, he posted: "Gutted, so annoying that I lost, but credit to Zhilei Zhang for giving me a good fight and getting the victory. I’ll be back."
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Zhang commented: "You are a warrior and true gentleman. You will come back stronger."
Joyce, 37, lost his WBO interim title and mandatory shot at the full belt held by Oleksandr Usyk, 36.
Zhang, who turns 40 in May, inherits the belt and pole position while opening the door to a rematch.
He told SecondsOut: “Yeah, I’ll do it if Joe Joyce wants to do it. I’ll do it in London, New York, or China."
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