Joe Joyce shrugged off retirement talk despite losing his fourth fight in five outings, with Filip Hrgovic claiming a unanimous decision victory in Manchester.
‘The Juggernaut’ was looking to recover from his loss to Derek Chisora back in July and put on an improved performance at the Co-op Live Arena in a brutal ten rounds of heavyweight boxing.
Much had been made about Joyce’s punch resistance, or lack thereof, following two losses to Zhilei Zhang and the Chisora defeat.
Still, the 39-year-old Londoner fared slightly better against Hrgovic, who was a late replacement for original opponent Dillian Whyte after a serious finger injury ruled ‘The Body Snatcher’ out.
Hrgovic eventually claimed a unanimous decision victory but Joyce confirmed he would not retire just yet, suggesting he could face the Croatian again. Joyce beat Hrgovic during their amateur days back in 2019.
Joyce did take another huge amount of punishment, however, so was naturally asked about his future in boxing immediately after the fight.
"Yeah [I want to continue],” he said.
“It's tough. He's [Hrgovic] a great fighter and he's been doing it a long time."
Joyce added: “Are you not entertained?”
It was Queensbury Promotion’s debut on streaming platform DAZN and an entertaining one at that.
David Adeleye became the British heavyweight champion with a knockout win against Jeamie TKV. Still, the result was overshadowed by controversy, with TKF’s corner suggesting referee Ron Kearney tapped his gloves as he called to break only seconds before Adeleye’s crucial left hook.
