Joe Joyce v Filip Hrgovic

[Master]

Less than two years ago, Joe Joyce was the most avoided heavyweight in the division.

On Saturday, at the Co-op Live arena on the outskirts of Manchester, Joyce is fighting for his boxing life when he meets Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic. It has been a dramatic shift in fortunes.

In 2023, Joyce was unbeaten in 15 fights, and he had dropped and stopped Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker in long and attritional brawls. He was the danger, he was the future.

Then, Joyce was matched in April 2023 with Zhilei Zhang, who in his previous fight had lost a tight 12-round title eliminator to Hrgovic. Joyce started as a heavy favourite that night at the forsaken CopperBox, the venue that boxing is trying to leave behind.

Hrgovic, having beaten Zhang in an eliminator for a version of the world title, was being frozen out of a heavyweight division where the two champions and their people had seen sense and arranged a couple of undisputed fights. No other sport resembles a soap opera quite like the heavyweight division.

During the last year, as Usyk and Fury made millions and fought twice, Joyce lost to Derek Chisora and Hrgovic was stopped on cuts by Daniel Dubois; the ringside doctor saved Hrgovic from getting badly beaten in a fight that was slipping painfully away. The Chisora renaissance – he is now mandated to challenge Dubois for the IBF heavyweight title – would genuinely be hard to invent.

Somehow, in the typical way that heavyweight boxing works, Hrgovic and Joyce meet in a fight for survival; it is one of the best last-chance-saloon shootouts of recent years. Both lost their last fight, and both know that they must win this fight to stay relevant in the heavyweight business. It really is that simple.

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/joe-joyce-...083539141.html

[Denilson3.0]

I'm kind of dreading this fight because I like Joyce and I think this could do some bad damage to him. Blocking shots with your face was only going to work for so long. It’s like whacking a wall with a sledgehammer, sooner or later it will collapse and will never be the same again.

Joyce needs to retire. Frank Warren doesn't really care about his long term health. He's going to get hit a lot in the early going and suffer more brain abuse. Hrgovic has the best chin HW boxing (IMO) so Joe aint gonna move him. It will very likely be the end of the road for Big Joe. So it could prove to be a really dumb decision on his part too.

[Master]

I was a huge fan of Joe Joyce and thought he was going to be a world champion. It was his work rate and engine that was impressive. He also was progressing very fast in his professional career and with his win's over Dubois and Parker I genuinely thought he would beat AJ and Fury.

Then Zhang beat him down twice and the second fight was in dramatic fashion. Losing to Chisora was embarrassing because he should have easily won that but having his chin up in the air and his punch resistance fading he lost a big fight.

Joyce had a chance against Whyte, the original opponent, but the way Hrgovic jumped in as the replacement means he believes he is going to out box Joyce and be back in the picture.

I hope Joyce can turn back the clock but have the feeling he will be easily out boxed.

[Master]

David Adeleye vs Jeamie Tshikeva on the undercard looks very interesting. There will be a knockout.

[TIC]

i think this should be an easy win for filip. i'm just not sure if he stops joe or not

[Spicoli]

Standing and hung up in a corner wouldn't surprise. Saw a recent interview with Joe and honestly it spoke volumes. Not by what he said but his delivery. It can get lost that just a short 3,4 years ago the talk after Dubois was "Joe needs to really hurry he's not getting any younger". Well, he is now well beyond hurrying for anything and he turns 40 this year. Honestly, I just want Joyce, Wilder and Chisora to all meet up and share a few pints over battles had. Put that on a stream...we'll watch . But leave the gloves alone.

[Master]

This will be a more difficult contest for Joe Joyce than if he faced Whyte. Joe has declined in recent years in terms of punch resistance and punch out put.

Hrgovic has taken this opportunity because he believes his boxing skills will be to much for slow Joyce.

I hope I am wrong and Joe wins.

The chief support will be fireworks.