Hrgovic vows to knockout Joyce

Filip Hrgovic (17-1, 14 KOs) vowed to knockout Joe Joyce (16-3, 15 KOs) on Saturday night in Manchester.

Hrgovic jumped as late substitute for Dillian Whyte who had to cancel because of injury.

In press conference on Thursday afternoon, Hrgovic said that Joyce is slow like a “fog”.

“He’s slow like fog,” said Hrgovic, much to the confusion of Joyce, who asked him to repeat the word, and many others. “Your next nickname could be ‘Fog’: Joe ‘Fog’ Joyce. He’s very slow. I don’t know how he’s going to knock me out. But, look, we’ll see on Saturday. He’s a good fighter, a brave man, and I am as well. It’s going to be a good fight, definitely.”

In response, Joyce, clearly amused by the comparison, rightly pointed out that Hrgovic is not particularly quick himself and continued to see the funny side of it all. “I know exactly what to expect,” he said. “I’ve fought him before [in the amateurs] and I’ve trained with Abel [Sanchez, Hrgovic’s coach] before. He’s had a lot of mileage, too. He’s been in the sport a long time; he’s had a lot of hard fights. But I think it’s going to be a great fight and I look forward to knocking him out on Saturday night.”

Hrgovic, 32, was for a while seen as The Next Big Thing at heavyweight, but his career was slow to progress and catch fire. It was then derailed altogether last June when Daniel Dubois damaged his face to such an extent that their scheduled 12-rounder was stopped in round eight.

Now, 10 months on, Hrgovic is looking to get back on track by taking this fight with Joyce on only a few weeks’ notice following the withdrawal of Dillian Whyte, the original opponent.

“It was short notice,” said the Croatian. “I had just a few weeks. But I was already in good shape. That is why I accepted this fight. I think it’s a good opportunity for me and this win will hopefully bring me back to the top. I’m looking forward to winning on Saturday, knocking him out, and getting back to the top. That’s the plan”.

“The motivation is big, for sure”.