A slightly chubby-looking Filip Hrgovic came in at a career-high weigh-in for his 10-round headliner against heavyweight Joe Joyce this Saturday, April 5th, with a start time of the event at 2 pm ET/11 am PT at the Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester, England.
Weigh-in Results
Joe Joyce – 275.1 vs. Filip Hrgovic 250.6
The Juggernaut’s weight is six pounds lighter than the 281 lbs he weighed for his last bout against Derek Chisora on July 27th last year. Joyce appeared slow and lethargic in the ring, moving like he was in slow motion throughout the 10-round contest, which he lost by a unanimous decision.
Short Notice, Shape Concerns
Interestingly, Joyce (16-3, 15 KOs) looked slimmer around the waist than Hrgovic (17-1, 14 KOs). Who would have thought that ‘The Juggernaut would come into the fight being slimmer in appearance than Hrgovic. However, it might not matter because Hrgovic still has a big advantage in hand speed.
Moreover, Filip’s rabbit-punching technique is textbook. Joyce won’t last long if Hrgovic is on form with those lethal shots behind the head on Saturday. If there’s a good referee working the fight, Hrgovic won’t be able to use his rabbit punching extensively, but it only takes one good shot for him to hurt his opponents.
It’s going to be interesting to see if he uses that punch to subdue Joyce. With the way Joe looked in his last three fights against Derek Chisora, Kash Ali, and Zhilei Zhang, Hrgovic could make quick work of him by keeping it clean. Promoter Eddie Hearn predicts a fast knockout by Hrgovic within four rounds.
Hrgovic hasn’t had an entire training camp. He was brought in on two weeks’ notice to fight Joyce after the initially scheduled opponent, Dillian Whyte, pulled out with an injury.
By looking at the 32-year-old Hrgovic’s midsection, you can tell that he’s not in the kind of shape that he typically is for his fights. He seems like someone who has been sitting on the sofa for the last five months, eating well since to Daniel Dubois by an eighth round knockout on June 1st last year in Riyadh.
Hrgovic weighed 247 lbs for his fight against Dubois, and he gassed out after five rounds. Daniel pummeled the exhausted-looking Filip from rounds six through eight, leaving him a bloody, badly beaten mess by the time of the stoppage.
This week, Hrgovic was filled with excuses about his loss, saying he’d been injured, and perhaps he was. Dubois was on another level and would have done a number on Hrgovic, no matter how healthy he was.
Last Updated on 04/04/2025
