JEFF POWELL: Joe Joyce and Conor Benn lead a stellar night of British boxing but their fights couldn’t be further apart… one is vying for a heavyweight title shot whilst the other is trying to get his back on track in an Orlando suburb

• Joyce will challenge Zhilei Zhang in what is a must-win fight at Wembley Arena
• Before, Benn will make his comeback following two adverse drugs test findings
• Mail Sport’s new WhatsApp Channel: Get the breaking news and exclusives here 

Saturday Night And Sunday Morning is the title of a classic novel by Alan Sillitoe made into a 1960s cult film starring Albert Finney which tells of a young factory worker indulging in a tawdry affair with a married woman after his weekly booze up with his mates, only to wake up next day nursing a hangover and longing for a normal life with a beautiful but seemingly unattainable young girl.

A version of this seedy experience awaits Conor Benn and British boxing this weekend.

Benn Junior will no doubt smash Mexican fall guy Rodolfo Orozco in a garish Florida hotel under cover of a boxing licence of US convenience this Saturday night.

Then see the dawn on Sunday wishing he had been involved in the kind of fight earlier in the evening from which the winner of Joe Joyce and Zhilei Zhang at Wembley Arena will emerge as a world heavyweight title contender.

Admittedly, young Conor needs a rust-shaker after 18 months of heel-kicking following two adverse drugs test findings which have resulted in the convoluted denials and nit-picking legal challenges which surround the abeyance of his British boxing license.

Conor Benn will make his return to the ring this weekend after two two adverse drugs test findings last October

He will take on Rodolfo Orozco in Florida – not the preferred location of his eventual comeback

Joe Joyce (right) will then take on Zhilei Zhang (left) in a rematch from earlier on in the year

Although he would surely have preferred to make his comeback in the full glare of the British public rather than under the flickering neon lights of the Caribe Royale resort and convention centre in a suburb of the Disney World city of Orlando.

As Mickey Mouse events go, this one is right up there.

Joyce, on the other fist, is fighting for his boxing life in a full-blooded encounter rigorously sanctioned by the British Boxing Board of Control. Should he lose this rematch to the Chinese thumper who battered him into eye-shattered submission earlier this year it will be difficult for any of us to see where our Olympic silver medalist has left to go at the age of 38.

Zhang is 40. So whichever of them prevails in this good old-fashioned slug-fest will want Tyson Fury and Olexsandr Usyk to get a move on with resolving which of them becomes the first undisputed heavyweight champ since Lennox Lewis. Specifically settle which of them will be required to meet a mandatory challenge for the WBO title, of which Zhang is the interim holder.

Benn, as he reappears on an undercard ten-rounder, is fighting for not much more than the money and to prove he can fight under the jurisdiction of any state prepared to let him.

He and promoter Eddie Hearn envisage Benn advancing to meet Chris Eubank Jr in a generational fight in the name of their fathers, which was called off following his two disputed doping failures.

Benn was prohibited from fighting Eubank (left) but his hope must be that the bout can eventually happen

Joyce, meanwhile, is looking for revenge after suffering a shock sixth-round defeat in April

If that does happen as mooted in December, it may have to be located in another foreign territory. Possibly Dubai for more loot.

As for Joe and Zhilie, while neither is good at dodging punches both have the mixed blessing of chins granite enough to survive the punishment of a full 12-round championship war.

If it does go the bloody distance Joyce will probably overcome the bookmakers’ odds against him. And both will have earned their money twice over.

Joyce v Zhang will be televised live on TNT Sports this Saturday night, followed in the early hours by Benn v Orozco on DAZN.

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