Joe Joyce has a new opponent for April 5 in Manchester, following Dillian Whyte’s withdrawal.
Joyce was set to face Whyte at the Co-op Live Arena, but ‘The Body Snatcher’ was forced to pullout with a finger injury.
‘The Juggernaut’ will remain at the top of the bill though and his promoter Frank Warren has secured him a showdown with Filip Hrgovic.
The 32-year-old Croatian was stopped in eight rounds in his last outing in June by Daniel Dubois in a bid for the IBF interim heavyweight crown, but Warren feels it’s a tougher test for Joyce than Whyte would have been.
“It’s a much tougher fight,” the Hall of Fame promoter told talkSPORT.
“Both of these guys, it’s the same situation I suppose if Dillian had been on.
“The winner of this fight will go on and the loser will seriously have to think about his future.”
Joyce, like his new foe, heads into the bout in desperate need of a victory having won only one of his last four fights.
The 39-year-old was dropped by Derek Chisora, before losing on points last July and prior to that was halted twice by Zhilei Zhang.
Joyce and Hrgovic have history in their amateur days, having fought in World Series of Boxing in 2013, with the Brit claiming a split decision win over five rounds.
The bout will mark Warren’s inaugural show on streaming platform, DAZN having parted ways with TNT Sports, with his last event on TNT coming this Saturday, with Nick Ball’s defence of his WBA featherweight world title against TJ Doheny in Liverpool.
The Queensberry Promotions boss also confirmed that rising heavyweight, Moses Itauma will feature on the undercard of Joyce-Hrgovic against an opponent to be confirmed.
The 20-year-old, who is already ranked at two with the WBO, has excelled in his first 11 professional contests, winning nine by knockout, the last a first round victory over Demsey McKean in December.
