sports
Artem Suslenkov Stops Joe Joyce in Moscow Heavyweight Bout
The 40-year-old British boxer was stopped in the 11th round after appearing to signal he no longer wanted to continue. Suslenkov improved to 15-0 while Joyce fell to 16-5.
Jul 11, 5:08 PM·1m read1 source
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Joe Joyce lost to Artem Suslenkov by 11th-round stoppage in Moscow on or about 10 July 2026. The 40-year-old British heavyweight appeared to signal that he no longer wanted to fight and stepped backwards before the referee halted the contest. Joyce offered little defense as Suslenkov, 30, landed additional blows.
The bout marked Joyce's first fight since a loss to Filip Hrgovic in April 2025 and followed his last victory against Kash Ali in March 2024. Joyce, a silver medallist at the 2016 Olympics, now holds a professional record of 16 wins and five losses, with all five defeats coming in his last six fights.
He won the vacant WBO interim heavyweight title by beating Joseph Parker in 2022 before losing twice to Zhilei Zhang in 2023.
Suslenkov improved his record to 15-0. Joyce's fight served as the undercard to Murat Gassiev's first defense of the WBA heavyweight title, where Gassiev stopped Peter Kadiru in the sixth round to reach 34 wins and two losses. After the Hrgovic defeat, Joyce's promoter Frank Warren said his fighter needed to have a real serious think about the future.
Joyce had stated he spent 12 months preparing and was excited for the opportunity against Suslenkov. Anthony Fowler, a Great Britain teammate at the 2016 Olympics, posted on X that it was a sad end to Joe's career and a shame to see him go out like that.
