A determined-looking heavyweight contender, Filip Hrgovic, says his plan for Saturday is to “knock out” Joe Joyce and get “back to the top” in their 10-round contest, with the event starting at 2:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. PT, live on DAZN on April 5th at the Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester, England. The Joyce vs. Hrgovic ring walks are at approximately 5:00 p.m. ET.

Handshake Snub

During today’s face-off at the ring press conference, Joyce (16-3, 15 KOs) ignored Hrgovic’s attempt to shake hands. ‘The Juggernaut’ Joyce didn’t want to show any niceties to his former opponent Hrgovic (17-1, 14 KOs) because he knew what is at stake for this fight.

Joyce, 39, has lost three out of his last four fights, and his latest defeat against 41-year-old journeyman Dereck Chisora showed how desperate his situation is. Getting beaten by the old warhorse, Chisora made it clear how messed up Joyce’s career is now.

Joyce came into the fight with Delby way too heavy, weighing 281, and had been knocked out twice by Zhilei Zhang, which hurt his confidence.

Hgovic didn’t show the same Terminator-like swagger today that we’ve seen from him before. His recent eighth-round knockout defeat against Daniel Dubois on June 1st last year in Riyadh seems to have humbled him. He didn’t act like the same fighter he’d been before that loss.

“I’m looking forward to knocking him out on Saturday and getting back to the top. That’s the plan,” said Filip Hrgovic during today’s final press conference, talking about his fight with Joe Joyce. “As Frank said, the loser will be in a very bad position. I don’t want to lose for sure.”

Hrgovic, 32, definitely can’t afford to get beaten again, as he’s not someone that the top dogs would want to throw bone to for a voluntary defense for entertainment like we’ve seen with the journeyman Chisora being given title shots that he didn’t rate. Filip is one of those fighters who must climb his way to the mandatory spot to get a title shot.

Joyce’s Formula

“It’s great that we had history in the past, but it’s a great fight now, and I’m looking forward to it,” said Joe Joyce to Ring Magazine about his fight this Saturday against Filip Hrgovic in Manchester, England. “I know exactly what he’s doing in camp.

The experience that Joyce is referring to is his five-round split decision victory over Hrgovic in the World Series of Boxing in 2013. That was a much younger, faster, slimmer, and agile version of Joyce than the one that exists today. He’s bulked up too much from the 230 lbs that he weighed when he fought Hrgovic over a decade ago.

“I know exactly the formula he’s going to have and the kinds of things that he’ll bring to the table,” said Joyce. “Having fought him before, I’m familiar with his style of fighting and what he’s going to bring to the table. I adjusted my camp to suit his style and to beat him.

“I want to get back to the top of the sport, and he’s a great name to get there,” said Joyce when asked if he wished that he took a soft touch as his replacement opponent after Dillian Whyte pulled out of their fight with an injury.