Hrgovic Urges Joyce To Retire After April 5th Bout: ‘He’s Old, Doesn’t Look Good’

Heavyweight contender Filip Hrgovic says he thinks Joe Joyce should retire immediately after their 10-round fight this Saturday night on April 5th because he feels ‘The Juggernaut’ is “old and doesn’t look good.” The two heavyweights are headlining live on DAZN at the Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester, England.

Joyce: Too Old?

Joyce, 39, has lost three out of his last four fights since 2023, and his most worrisome defeat was against 41-year-old Derek Chisora on July 27th last year.

That’s a guy that ‘The Juggernaut” Joyce (16-3, 15 KOs) would have likely destroyed if he’d fought him five years ago when he was beating fighters like Daniel Dubois. Losing to Chisora by a 10-round unanimous decision showed that things have changed with him.

Joyce’s career started to unravel when he was stopped in the sixth round by Zhilei Zhang in their first fight on April 15, 2023. Instead of moving on, Joe chose to fight the hard-hitting southpaw Zhang in an immediate rematch and was blown out in three rounds in September 2023.

The Juggernaut’s punch resistance may have been affected by his second defeat against Zhang because he was hurt in his fight against journeyman Kash Ali last year in March and was stopped by Chisora.

Assuming Joyce’s ability to take a punch is still the same, he needs to lose weight to get back down to the 250s. He was at his best when he weighed in that range. Joyce bulked up to the 280s for his fights against Zhang, and he’s stayed at that weight. That’s too much weight for anybody, especially a naturally slow fighter.

“Yeah, I think he should retire. He’s old, and he doesn’t look good. I think he achieved a lot, and he can be proud. He should retire after Saturday,” said Filip Hrgovic to Secondsout about his belief that at 39 years old, Joe Joyce needs to retire after their clash this Saturday, April 5th, in Manchester.

Hrgovic (17-1, 14 KOs) is in a bad career situation as well, coming off an eighth-round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois on June 1st last year. He can’t afford another defeat if he wants to get a crack at a world title before he ages out. None of the champions are going to look in Hrgovic’s direction if he gets beaten again.

Hrgovic’s Bluntness

“It’s a big risk. A loss will put me out of the picture,” said Hrgovic about him coming in as a late replacement on two weeks’ notice to fight Joyce. “When I thought about it, I accepted the challenge and I feel ready to defeat him.

“A lot of things happened that were out of my hands. I was injured and sick before the fight. I got two massive cuts into the fight,” said Hrgovic, explaining why he lost to Daniel Dubois on June 1st last year in Riyadh. “It wasn’t the best version of myself, and I think that if I’m well-prepared and I’m healthy, I can compete with anyone.”