Joyce vs Hrgovic | April 5th
On Saturday April 5 up in Manchester at the magnificent, recently built, Co-op Live Arena, a new broadcast partnership between Queensberry and DAZN will launch with a show titled ‘Heavy Impact’.
The clue is on the name on the tin because Frank Warren’s maiden promotion on his new platform features major heavyweight headliners.
Sitting at the top of the bill is a cracking crossroads encounter between IBF Interim world title challenger Filip Hrgovic taking on former WBO Interim world champion and 2016 Olympic silver medalist Joe Joyce.
The coveted British heavyweight title will be on the line when English champion David Adeleye faces London rival Jeamie TKV Tshikeva, plus those inside the Co-op Live will also witness the professional debut on British Olympian Delicious Orie.
The Big Juggernaut Joyce was originally scheduled to fight Dillian Whyte before injury ruled out the former world title challenger.
Hrgovic suffered his only professional career defeat in June when he challenged for the vacant IBF Interim world heavyweight title against Daniel Dubois in Riyadh. It was a costly reverse for the Croatian – who was stopped in the eighth due to extensive cuts – because Dubois was subsequently upgraded to become full champion.
The 32-year-old known as El Animal had waited a long time for his shot at IBF honours, having been No.1 contender for over two years with a number of heavyweights turning down the opportunity to challenge him for his status.
His major successes came across 2022-23 when he defeated Zhilei Zhang – via a controversial decision – and then the Australian hope Demsey McKean to reinforce his credentials. As an amateur, Hrgovic won gold at the 2015 European championships and secured the bronze medal for his nation at the 2016 Olympic Games.
Joyce (16-3, 15 KOs) is seeking to restore himself to the elite heavyweight picture following his unexpected setback against Derek Chisora in July 2024. Previously, The Big Juggernaut suffered a double defeat to the Chinese giant Zhilei Zhang, where he lost his status as WBO Interim world champion.
Prior to his Zhang reverses, Joyce, 39, was considered as the emerging force of the heavyweight division with the run of victories that took him to Interim champion status. On teaming up with Frank Warren and Queensberry, Joyce first defeated former world title challenger Alexsandr Ustinov before taking on the American Bryant Jennings to win the WBA Gold title.
He memorably took home a clutch of title belts – British, Commonwealth, European, WBC Silver and WBO International – following his defeat of now IBF world champion Daniel Dubois at the end of 2020, before recording victory over Christian Hammer and then a show stopping knockout of former world champion Joseph Parker.
David Adeleye (13-1, 12 KOs) won the WBO European heavyweight title with victory over Dmytro Bezus in early 2023, making one successful defence, before being put forward for a British title challenge against Fabio Wardley in Riyadh in the October on the undercard of the first Riyadh Season event headlined by Tyson Fury v Francis Ngannou. Wardley secured the stoppage in the seventh round and Adeleye got himself back in the title mix with a stunning first round knockout of Solomon Dacres in December to win the English title.
Jeamie TKV Tshikeva (8-1, 5 KOs) became IBO International heavyweight champion with a strong victory over Michael Webster last time out in February at Wembley. He previously defeated British rival Franklin Ignatius via a sixth round stoppage.