A very interesting, possibly exciting heavyweight showdown will take place in Manchester, UK this Saturday night, and it’s one that neither guy, both already having taken a seat at the bar at the last chance saloon, can afford to lose.
Joe Joyce, 39 years of age and 16-3(15). Against Filip Hrgovic, 32 years of age and 17-1(14).
Both men need this, and bad.
Joyce, AKA “The Juggernaut,” has not rolled over a notable foe since back in September of 2022, this when Joyce stopped Joseph Parker late in a great fight. Since then, Joyce has gone 1-3, with him losing twice to “Big Bang” Zhang, and to Derek Chisora. Joyce’s win in-between, over Kash Ali, did little to convince the doubters who feel he is all but done at anything like elite level.
In terms of Hrgovic, AKA “El Animal,” he has not devoured any prey since December of 2023, this when he scored an easy win over Mark de Mori. You have to go way back to August of 2022 to find Hrgovic’s most recent win of note; this a close, debatable decision win over the aforementioned Zhang and his “Big Bang.”
We’ve seen what Zhang did to Joyce two times, while we also saw the towering Chinese southpaw give Hrgovic real trouble. As such, there is no real form to go by as far as Saturday’s fight goes, because both men struggled against the same guy. Joyce, though, got the worst of it when he faced “Chinese Power.”
But who wins on Saturday? Joyce is coming off that decision loss to Chisora, while Hrgovic was last seen taking far too many shots from Daniel Dubois, with the Croatian being stopped in the eighth in June of last year. Again, neither man can afford another loss here, even though younger man Hrgovic has only lost once.
We could see a real slugfest on Saturday, with both men banging it out in an ‘on the cobbles’ type affair. On the other hand, Joyce and Hrgovic, both former amateur standouts, have skills and can box. Or should that be past tense, as in Hrgovic and Joyce HAD good skills and could box?
Maybe.
If ever a fight and its winner came down to who has most left, and who wants to keep going more, it’s possibly this fight. Both men can punch, both Joyce and Hrgovic can absorb a good shot (or again, they could absorb a good shot), and both men enjoy fighting up close, on the inside. Both guys are big heavyweights, and the action here, whoever wins, should prove exciting.
Hrgovic, who stepped in at short-notice to face Joyce when Dillian Whyte suffered an injury, is the pick to win here. But this is assuming Hrgovic was in decent shape when he got the call, and that his mental attitude was not irreversibly compromised when he suffered his first pro loss.
Joyce can never be counted out, and he will not be in this fight. Instead, Hrgovic will hammer out a fairly wide decision win. Where both men go afterwards will prove quite interesting. Maybe.
