The Croatian suffered a cut early in the fight but came out stronger in the final rounds.
Filip Hrgovic – Joe Joyce, photo – Getty Images
Croatian heavyweight Filip Hrgovic (18-1, 14 KOs) defeated Briton Joe Joyce (16-4, 15 KOs) to win the vacant WBO International heavyweight title.
Joe managed to cut the Croatian in the first round. But Filip coped with the first onslaught and then began to seize the initiative. In several episodes, the Croatian was close to knocking his opponent down, but Joe withstood the blows.
The final rounds were dominated by Hrgovic, who, however, lacked the strength to finish the fight early. After ten rounds, all judges gave the victory to Filip – 97-93, 96-95 and 98-92.
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.
Hrgovic won for the first time since losing to Daniel Dubois last June, while Joyce suffered his fourth loss in his last five fights.
Filip Hrgovic throwing and landing!! 👊#JoyceHrgovic | Live NOW on DAZN pic.twitter.com/HHFBfxwZgf
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