Briton has no plans to retire after defeat to Filip Hrgovic
Joe Joyce, Getty Images
Former WBO interim champion Joe Joyce (16-4, 15 KO) said he has no plans to retire after his loss to Croatian heavyweight Filip Hrgovic (18-1, 14 KO).
“Everyone is backing up the statements like, 'Oh, his chin,' or 'I have CTE, all that shit.' I'm still sane, I'm still enjoying myself, and there's still a lot of good fights to come.”
“I feel good, it's almost like a tough sparring session, but it's nice to share the ring with Filip Hrgovic again. It was a good fight, it was close. There were moments in the third round when his eye was hurting, it was bleeding and I was trying to aim for it, but he was alert and then the corner did a good job of covering it up.”
“When the time comes, I'll hang up my gloves,” Joyce concluded.
Hrgovic had the advantage in the last rounds of the fight with Joyce, but did not find the strength to finish the fight early. In the end, all three judges gave the victory to the Croatian on points.
See also: Filip Hrgovic vs. Joe Joyce. Video review of the fight for April 5
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.
Joyce lost his second fight in a row, having previously lost to Dereck Chisora in July 2024. For Joe, the defeat to Hrgovic was his fourth in his last five fights.