Joe Joyce predicts he’ll be victorious in his rematch with Filip Hrgovic this Saturday, April 5th, in their 10-round heavyweight clash, live on DAZN at the Co-Live Arena in Manchester, England.

Career on The Line

Joyce (16-3, 15 KOs) and Hrgovic (17-1, 14 KOs) are in a must-win situation in this contest, as both are coming off defeats and have slid down in the rankings. It’s awful for ‘The Juggernaut’ Joyce, 39, with his 1-3 record in his last four bouts, and coming off a 10 round unanimous decision defeat to the old vet, Derek Chisora on July 27th last year.

That was the worst of the worst, showing how far Joyce’s career has fallen. In that fight, he actually made the glacially slow Chisora look fast and talented, which is nearly impossible for any top-tier heavyweight.

Hrgovic took a fierce beating in his last fight, getting knocked out in the eighth round by the young lion Daniel Dubois on June 1st last year in Riyadh. For five rounds, the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Hrgovic looked great, landing huge right hand bombs to the head of Dubois.

However, by the sixth round, Hrgovic had nothing left in the tank and just took a shellacking from the powerful Dubois from that point on. The contest was halted in the eighth round because Hrgovic’s face was a mess and he could no longer defend himself from Dubois’s heavy shots.

The kind of beating that Hrgovic took in that fight leaves a lot of questions about whether he’s going to be able to hang in on Saturday night when Joyce starts unloading on him. Joyce is slow, but he can still punch and can take advantage of a depleted Hrgovic if he’s less than 100% after the beatdown he took last June.

The event starts at 2:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. PT, and the ring walks are at approximately 5:00 ET/2:00 p.m. PT.

Joyce’s Prediction

“The same result is going to happen; I’m going to win and then get elevated back up to the top of the sport. I am really excited to be here again, there is a lot of excitement here, and it is going to be a great night of boxing,” said Joe Joyce during today’s final press conference, painting his dream-like fantasy scenario for the outcome of his clash against Filip Hrgovic this Saturday night in Manchester.

“I know exactly what to expect from him and I have worked with Abel (trainer, Sanchez) before. He’s got a lot of mileage and has been in the sport a long time and had a lot of hard fights. I look forward to knocking him out on Saturday night.”