Must win time: Joe Joyce fights Filip Hrgovic

Less than three years ago, heavyweight Joe Joyce was undefeated in 15 fights.

There was talk of Joyce challenging then-world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.

Joyce, nicknamed “Juggernaut,” was indeed that – crushing opponents with power and resiliency. Defense was a bad word. Opposing right hands hardly missed. Joyce didn’t blink. He walked through the blows and wore his opponents down. His chin withstood shots from Carlos Takam, Daniel Dubois, and Joseph Parker.

Joyce defeated them all convincingly. Defeat Zhilei Zhang and fight for a world title.

Nope.

Zhang took Joyce’s best blows and blew out his eye. No longer undefeated but gunning for revenge, Joyce fought Zhang again five months later.

He said all the right things leading up to the bout.

It all went wrong on fight night. Zhang banged Joyce around like a heavy bag, stopping him in round three. So much for an iron chin.

Joyce didn’t look good in losing his next fight – and even worse against extra-tough Derek Chisora.

Since his loss to Chisora, there’s been a different type of talk around Joyce. This one is touchy and scary – lurking in the background like a slow-acting virus that can attack boxers that eat too many headshots. Not all, but some.

Dillian Whyte recently said this about Joyce during a press conference.

“His [Joyce’s] defense is to keep getting hit until you get tired – and then he tries to knock you out,” Whyte said. “That’s his main defense. But it doesn’t work, bro. That’s why when you get asked a question, there’s like a 15-second silence before you answer. It’s all good now, but 10 years from now… Jesus Christ. You’re going to go to your house – the sat-nav will say you’re home, but you’ll be like, ‘I don’t live here.’

Damn. There have been reports that Joyce’s reaction time to questions has been…deliberate.  Damning evidence? No. Worrying for his future. Yes. Whyte and Chisora are fighters who could have issues later in life.

Warriors.

Risks and future be damned.

Joe Joyce fights Filip Hrgovic this Saturday at Co-op Live in Manchester, England. Like Joyce, Hrgovic needs a win. His last outing was a painful disaster. Hrgovic was beyond cocky when he met Daniel Dubois last June. They had spared several years ago. Hrgovic had an easy time of it – he figured the outcome would be the same now.

He figured it wrong.

Dubois bashed him in eight rounds.

“I took him too lightly and underestimated him, thought it’d be a much easier fight for me,” admitted Hrgovic in an interview with Ring Magazine.  “I lost my energy after five or six rounds, could hardly see his punches coming from the second round, had two deep cuts and they affected my vision, my focus and gave him confidence to push me.”

Promoter Frank Warren sees the significance of Saturday’s matchup.

“It’s exactly the same as the fight he had before, Joe against Dillian,” said Warren. “The winner goes on; the loser is going to have to think about what he does.”

If underdog Joyce loses Saturday, hopefully, he will hang up his gloves.

Save those brain cells.