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'Well-beaten!" - Eddie Hearn expects heavyweight star to struggle in major bout this weekend
Eddie Hearn has praised Joe Joyce's resilience across his career, but admits he expects the Briton to be "well-beaten" when he faces Filip Hrgovic this weekend in Manchester.
The former Olympian faces the Croatian atop a stacked Queensberry Promotions card, the first in Frank Warren's groundbreaking deal with DAZN, at Co-op Live on Saturday.
Joyce, the former WBO interim title holder, is looking to rebuild after three losses in his last four bouts, including two to Zhilei Zhang and most recently against Derek Chisora.
The star has claimed his share of major scalps across his career, including IBF world champion Daniel Dubois and former WBO king Joseph Parker before a downturn in form.
Ahead of the bout with Hrgovic, who has a lone loss to Dubois as the only blemish on his record, Hearn paid tribute to Joyce's tenure while acknowledging age is catching up.
Warren Little/Getty Images
"He had a very close fight with Derek Chisora in his last fight," he told The Stomping Ground when asked about his thoughts. "Without the knockdown, it would have been very close.
Now Chisora is mandatory for the world title. Joe's always been slow in the ring. He's never looked like this sensational, skilled fighter. He's been extremely tough.
"He can whack, he's got a great chin, [but] as his career has progressed, the punch resistance has changed. Shots that hurt him against Chisora would never have hurt him before.
"The thousands of rounds of heavy sparring have been a problem. If you want a prediction, he will be well-beaten on Saturday and it will be inside three or four rounds."
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