Joyce: Hrgovic is ahead of me in the fight for the title. It gets on my nerves...

To be fair to Joyce he had a wrist injury which was reported a couple of months before he was offered the Hrgovic fight. It was reported he was going to try and return in April that year which is when Hrgovic offered to fight him I believe but the injury hadn't healed as quickly as they had hoped which is why Joyce didn't return to the ring until July that year.

There's an easy way for this supposed injustice to be resolved and that's for Joyce to fight Hrgovic after he beats Zhang this weeked as Hrgovic has no fight scheduled. Now that's a fight I'd like to see if neither of them can secure a title shot.

 

The Dubious thing is ridiculous, sure. But in general Joyce has been happy to take it easy and avoid hard fights until he's well into his thirties, so it's pretty laughable to complain. He's beaten an over-the-hill Parker and that's it.
He's not in some backwater and has a big network around him.

 

His progress has been slower than I would of liked considering his age but in't been only 5.5 years since he turned pro and is a top contender and his peers from the 2016 Olympics have worse resumes and have not progressed any faster than him. So to say hes avoided hard fights when he fought Lenroy Thomas in his 4th fight, Kiladze in his 6th when Kownacki and Hunter didn't fight Kiladaze until their 17th and 15th fights and stepped up to fight fringe contender/gatekeeper Jennings in his 10th fight is not really true.

He wasn't always with a big network or with a big promoter like Warren. Remember he signed initially with David Haye's Ring star promotional company. He was seen as too old and too unmarketable for much of his early career as he was awfully uncomfortable in front of the camera at first. Even when Warren signed him in 2019 it was likely to just feed him to Dubois to build Dubois' career up as Dubois was seen as the kid wonder in Warren's stable at the time and the one getting more of the attention. Wasn't until Joyce stopped Dubois that some people began to take notice of Joyce as a serious contender including his own promoter.

 

Joyce ducked Hrgovic, he has to deal with it now. Or fight him next.

 

Nahh, he could have fought him instead Zhang, Hrgovic needs opponent tommorow, not in july when Joyce would be ready after Zhang fight, he is aswell the next mandatory to Usyk who might fight in july, the next one should be in december, so Hrgovic has no reason after 2 years of waiting, to fight anyone (if he gets somebody to fight tommorow). If he doesnt, that is a different story. He should fight Jared Anderson IMO, but I think IBF will order Franck Sanchez, who is a coward and will duck him, again.

 

How could he of fought him instead of Zhang?

Jan 2022 it's reported Joyce is recovering from a broken wrist and is looking to return in April.

Then in Feb 2022 it's reported Hrgovic will fight Zhang. Joyce was still recovering and couldn't commit to a date and I doubt Hrgovic would of waited around until he was healed considering he'd waited so long to find an opponent.

March 2022 Hrgovic/Zhang confirmed for May 7th, again before Joyce was healed from his injury and announced any opponent.

May 2nd 2022 Hrgovic pulls out of the fight with Zhang due to the death of his father.

June 2022 Joyce/Hammer announced for July 2nd when Hrgovic is still grieving and Zhang fight still not rescheduled.

July 26th after Joyce has just fought Hammer Hrgovic/Zhang confirmed for August.

Fact is unless you expected Joyce to fight with an injury or Hrgovic to wait around for Joyce to heal the fight was never a possibility.

As for Hrgovic fighting Anderson and Sanchez, I doubt that will happen. I know Anderson called out Hrgovic after the Zhang fight but Hearn doesn't think Arum wants the fight and Sanchez isn't going to fight anyone with a pulse or probably anyone not signed with Haymon much like Luis Ortiz he'll just pad his record with journeymen for years. Joyce/Hrgovic makes sense, both fearless fighters who will take dangerous fights who are avoided by those above them. Easiest fight to make in my opinion if neither can secure a title shot next.

 

He could have fought him now, instead Zhang aswell.

 

But Hrgovic is waiting to see if he can get a title shot against Usyk which is why he is not scheduled to fight anyone right now. Can't blame Hrgovic for that, that's the smart move, so again you are wrong.

 

Wouldn't say Parker was over the hill, he's only 30 and in his prime, and Joyce beat him more convincingly than anyone.

 

He should have rematched Zhang then if he needs an opponent that bad

 

He needs higher ranked opponents - Joyce, Joshua, Ruiz, Wilder, Sanchez, Bakole... If Zhang wins vs Joyce, it should happen right away - July (so Zhang can rest after Joyce). Otherwise fight makes no sense for Hrgovic if he is up for a mandatory title fight after Dubois (cca December if Usyk wins).

 

Hrgovic has been calling out everyone for 2 years, if Joyce had said he wanted that fight - Hrgovic would take it. Usyk vs Dubois will hapen in July, that means Hrgovic needs 1 fight inbetween eather way to fight Usyk in December. He isnt waiting when he was in the talks and full camp for 2 months preparing for Ruiz. Why are you blatantly lying, are you british?

 

What does my nationality have to do with anything? Does your nationality mean your point of view is invalid?

But to answer your question, yes I am British but I rooted for Usyk against Joshua and would root for Usyk vs Fury, so me being British is meaningless.

Plenty of fighters have legitimately ducked Hrgovic don't see why you need to create this false narrative that Joyce was one of them, he was injured when the fight was offered and now Hrgovic isn't likely fighting anyone until he knows if Usyk is fighting Fury or not.

I could easily say Hrgovic is ducking a Zhang rematch but reality is I think Hrgovic beat Zhang and has no obligation to do so and with a possible title shot at Usyk it would be a dumb move to fight anyone at the moment. I'm not some Hrgovic hater, I'm just not an overzealous fan like you seem to be who thinks everyone is ducking Hrgovic.

 

Joyce refused Hrgovic, that is that. Joyce could have fought Hrgovic then, and he could have fought him now instead Zhang. That is that.

It makes no sense for remactch now, if it was meant to be - it should have happened in december. If Zhang wins, Hrgovc should fight him.

If Zhang loses vs Joyce, and calls out Hrgovic before his title shot (lets say in september), and Hrgovic says no - is that ducking by your standards?