Joe Joyce and Filip Hrgovic meet over a scheduled ten rounds in a crossroads clash at heavyweight, headlining a Frank Warren-promoted card at the Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester this Saturday.
Joyce vs Hrgovic marks Queensberry’s first offering on the DAZN platform.
Joyce (16-3, 15 KOs) struck Olympic Silver in 2016, and made good progress when he turned over, including a tenth-round knockout of Daniel Dubois in 2020, and a penultimate-frame halting of Joseph Parker in September 2022.
The wheels would then start to come off for ‘The Juggernaut’ in 2023, as he was stunned by Zhilei Zhang in April, stopped in six rounds with a terrible eye injury, and the rematch saw him fare even worse, as he was poleaxed in three rounds five months later.
2024 saw Joyce labor to a tenth-round win against Kash Ali, but an attempt to give his career a refresh ended in failure, with Derek Chisora taking a points win over ten after decking Joyce in the ninth last July.
Hrgovic (17-1, 14 KOs) has followed a similar path to Joyce, and he won bronze in the same Olympics, and also started off well as a pro. The Croatian took a 2022 decision win against Zhang, and was on the brink of world honours, but that was all derailed by Daniel Dubois last June.
Hrgovic was exhausted and then outlasted by the Londoner, as his eyes were severely damaged, and he was ruled out after eight rounds.
Prediction: This is a tough one to call, but both have a habit of running out of petrol, and I think Hrgovic may be slightly the fresher man, so I lean towards him taking a gruelling stoppage win in the later stages.
Adeleye and TKV battle for the British
The undercard sees more heavyweight action, with the vacant British title at stake. David Adeleye (13-1, 12 KOs) was outgunned in a previous challenge for the belt, halted in seven by Fabio Wardley in October 2023. He rebounded well though, taking out Sol Dacres in 80 seconds last December to take the English crown, and he now meets the green Jeamie TKV (8-1, 5 KOs) for the vacant Lonsdale Belt.
Things got ๐๐๐๐๐๐ between @DavidAdeleye and @JeamieTkvBoxing ๐ค๐ฅ#HeavyImpact | Saturday | Co-Op Live, Manchester | @DAZNBoxing | Tickets on sale via Ticketmaster NOW ๐๏ธ pic.twitter.com/Fy8B1rpfqb
โ Queensberry Promotions (@Queensberry) March 31, 2025
TKV was upset by Igor Macedo, stopped in six in September 2023, and has won three times since, the last a ninth-round retirement of Michael Webster to take the IBO International bauble in February.
Prediction: I can’t see Adeleye not winning here, and he should do it early, with TKV taking a massive step up in class. Adeleye can win within the first half of the contest.
Full undercard preview
Jack Rafferty (25-0, 16 KOs) could really break through in 2025, and he can defend his Commonwealth super lightweight title by halting the unbeaten Cory O’Regan (14-0, 3 KOs), who has never previously been past eight rounds.
Albanian cruiserweight Juergen Uldedaj (19-1, 8 KOs) should bring an army of supporters with him, and he can take out Gerardo Mellado (12-3, 7 KOs) before the end of their scheduled ten-rounder, with the Chilean stopped in each of his previous defeats.
Upset on the #JoshuaFranklin undercard!
Benoit Huber takes Juergen Uldedaj’s 0 with a 77-75 decision! pic.twitter.com/Oe95zowKSb
โ Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) April 1, 2023
The final ten rounder is at super lightweight, where Bolton’s Khaleel Majid (14-0, 4 KOs) can take a win on the cards against Salford’s Alex Murphy (13-0, 0 KOs).
In eight round affairs, Mark Chamberlain (16-1, 12 KOs) can rebound from his first pro defeat to Josh Padley by taking a win at super lightweight against Miguel Angel Scaringi (8-4, 3 KOs), likely inside schedule, and Royston Barney-Smith (13-0, 7 KOs) should come through his super featherweight contest with Cesar Ignacio Paredes (18-16-1, 5 KOs) by the same method.
The sole six rounder is at featherweight, where Nelson Birchall (7-0, 4 KOs) can widely outscore Rodrigo Matias Areco (5-13-2, 0 KOs).
In four round attractions, Delicious Orie makes an eagerly-awaited debut, and the 2024 Olympian can start his professional odyssey by blasting away Milos Veletic (3-7, 1 KO) at heavyweight.
Featherweight hope Alfie Middlemiss (2-0, 0 KOs) can take a points win against Alexander Morales (6-11-5, 2 KOs), and super middleweight debutant Ramtin Musah will likely need all four rounds to take care of Robbie Chapman (13-48-9, 2 KOs). At bantamweight, Louis Szeto makes his bow, and should comfortably win on points against Nabil Ahmed (2-40-3, 0 KOs).
