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Last-chance saloon awaits Joyce after curious career
The Independent
|April 03, 2025
Less than two years ago, Joe Joyce was the most avoided heavyweight in the division.
On Saturday, at the Co-op Live arena on the outskirts of Manchester, Joyce is fighting for his boxing life when he meets Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic. It has been a dramatic shift in fortunes.
In 2023, Joyce was unbeaten in 15 fights, and he had dropped and stopped Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker in long and attritional brawls. He was the danger, he was the future.
Then, Joyce was matched in April 2023 with Zhilei Zhang, who in his previous fight had lost a tight 12-round title eliminator to Hrgovic. Joyce started as a heavy favourite that night at the forsaken CopperBox, the venue that boxing is trying to leave behind.
It was not an easy fight, but another stoppage win for Joyce would have meant that he was an irresistible contender for one of the heavyweight champions. Joyce was the juggernaut, his style a relentless problem for any heavyweight.
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