On the night of April 5-6, Joe will fight Croatian Hrgovic, who replaced the injured White.
Joe Joyce, photo – Getty Images
Well-known promoter Eddie Hearn shared his prediction for the fight between former WBO interim title holder Joe Joyce (16-3, 15 KO) and Croatian boxer Filip Hrgovic (17-1, 14 KO).
“A lot of fighters have the same problem. And Joe is a great example of that. He's always been slow in the ring. He's never looked like some sensational technical fighter. Yeah, he used to be a really tough dude. He can punch. He's huge. And he's got a cool beard. But with each fight, the level of his opposition has increased. And with that, the ability of his beard to take a punch has decreased.”
Read also: Hrgovic: Joyce is slow as fog. I don't know how he's going to knock me out
“The punches that bothered him in the Chisora fight… He wouldn't have even noticed them before. Two losses to Zhang Zhilei, thousands of rounds of sparring – all of that is a problem. And if you want to hear my prediction, I bet on him getting beat up on Saturday. And that the fight will be over in 3-4 rounds. That's what I think about this fight.”
Read also: Joyce: I will beat Hrgovic and then return to the top of boxing
Let us recall that Joyce was originally supposed to fight former interim world heavyweight champion Dillian Whyte (31-3, 21 KOs), but the latter suffered an injury in early March, due to which he withdrew from the fight. Joyce's representatives quickly agreed on a fight with Hrgovic. The fight will take place on the night from Saturday, April 5, to Sunday. The venue will be the Co-Op Live arena in Manchester.
On March 1, Joyce was supposed to fight German Patrick Corte, but the Briton pulled out. At the end of July 2024, Joe lost to Derek Chisora by unanimous decision. The fight took place at the O2 Arena in London. For Joyce, this defeat was the third in his last four fights.
Hrgovic had his last fight in June last year. Filip lost by knockout to Daniel Dubois in the eighth round and failed to win the title of “interim” IBF champion.