Croatian heavyweight Filip Hrgovic on Joyce win and looking for world title shot
05/04/2025
CO-OP LIVE ARENA, Manchester, UK
05/04/2025
CO-OP LIVE ARENA, Manchester, UK
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00:00I expected a hard fight. I knew he's tough. He just kept coming. I expected a tough fight.
00:20I wasn't in my best shape. I had just a few weeks of preparation. But I did it. I think
00:27I controlled the fight. I landed the biggest shots, the best shots. And I won. So I'm really
00:36happy.
00:37It seemed in the middle rounds that Joyce was able to come on and turn the tide a little
00:43bit. Granted, you closed the show well, but what do you attribute the change in tide to?
00:49How did Joe Joyce kind of come on in the middle?
00:53He's famous for his big pace. He just keeps coming and he's just increasing his pace.
01:05He starts slowly and just throws a lot of punches later. So I knew he was going to keep
01:14coming. Like I said, I wasn't in my best shape. I just had a few weeks of preparation.
01:25But I did it. I had this second win in the 9th and 10th round and I won definitely the
01:35first 5 rounds. So I think I won at least 7 or 8 rounds. He won maybe 2 or 3 rounds.
01:46A lot of conversation was had about Joe's punch resistance. Were you surprised he was
01:56able to take your power? Or did you feel like all your power wasn't there tonight?
02:03I think he has a great chin. He surprised me that he took all these punches. But like
02:14I said, I think I wasn't in my best shape. Usually I should throw more punches. I should
02:21finish him if I was in my best shape. But I was cautious a little bit because I knew
02:32I wasn't in my best shape. But yeah, he's really tough.
02:38Why weren't you in your best shape?
02:40Because it was short notice, man. I had just a few weeks of preparation. I was in easy
02:48training. I got a call and I decided to go into the fight. I just did a few weeks of
02:58training and that's it. I knew I wasn't in my greatest shape but I was in decent shape.
03:07I think I can do better if I had a real camp. This is the first time in my life I did a
03:15camp in Croatia. Usually for big fights I go to the United States. I isolate myself
03:25from everyone. This time I did it in Croatia. Like I said, I had just a few weeks. Hopefully
03:35for the next fight I'll be in better shape.
03:38What would you like next month?
03:46I think I would like to fight in September or October again against some big name. I
03:56would like to maybe get some final eliminator or something like that and fight some big
04:05name like someone top 15, top 10 and to deserve my title shot again. That's my goal, to win
04:15a world title.
04:17Dylan White was meant to fight Joe Joyce tonight and he said after the fight that he would
04:23love to fight you next and he believed he'd knock you out. Is that a fight you would entertain
04:27and how do you think that would go?
04:29Yeah, that's a good fight. We'll see. We'll speak with Frank and George and see what they
04:37offer. Why not? I'll fight anyone.
04:48We were in camp in Big Bear last year and had three fights called off so he went home.
04:55When he got the call three weeks before the fight, he called me up and asked me if I thought
04:59we should take it. I asked him what he was doing. He said he was running. So we really
05:03didn't have the time to prepare like we should have prepared. But I'm very proud of what
05:07he done. He knew he wasn't in the best shape. We gave away the middle rounds for that reason.
05:11We knew Joe had a great motor and it's a matter of making sure that we got enough for the
05:169th and 10th and as he proved, he really closed on the 9th and 10th. So I'm very proud of
05:20what he did.
05:22You mentioned in the ring that you'd like to take on Dubois again at some stage. What
05:27would you do differently in that fight if you were to have the rematch?
05:32Look, also before Dubois fight I had a bad situation. I lost a few weeks of my sparring
05:41because of a cut. I was sick before the fight and from the middle of the fight I was really
05:50tired because of that sickness. I was cut very bad from second round on both eyes. So
05:56a lot of bad circumstances happened in that fight and I think I didn't show my best version.
06:05I would like to get another chance. He's a world champion of course and I'll need one
06:13or two more wins, I don't know, to get back into the mix. But I would like definitely
06:21to fight him again.
06:22I feel like backstage before, when you walked back after the win, I saw that you and Moses
06:29Itoma crossed paths and it looked like the second you stopped and was sizing you up.
06:34Did you sense that and what you make of him, a guy and a fighter on the rise?
06:41He's a good young fighter, you know. He has the skills. He's a good young fighter. He's
06:49a quick southpaw, you know. He has good skills but we'll see how he does in a tough fight
06:57when he's got someone who goes for 10 rounds, 12 rounds, who can take his shots. He needs
07:05to prove himself in a tough fight but he definitely has the skills.
07:11Did you get that feeling that you were sizing him up at that moment?
07:16He's a kid. I'm a man. He's a kid.
07:20Would you feel disrespected if he did?
07:23No, I just saw him and just walked. Maybe I'll fight him in future, you know.
07:33I didn't want... He's probably maybe in future my opponent, very possible.
07:50I didn't say hi, he didn't say hi, you know. It's boxing. It's mental games.
07:55And, yeah, like I said, he's a good young fighter but he needs to have some tough fight
08:05to see, you know, is he a warrior or he's just a good fighter, you know. It's different
08:13because we saw Jared Anderson who has also great skills. He didn't show that he's a warrior,
08:23you know. And there's a lot of guy with great skills but one side is a skill and another
08:32side is heart and chin, you know. So we'll see when he get into the big fight but until
08:43now he definitely did great job, you know. He did great job until now.
08:49Knowing his mentality, he probably looks at fighters in your stature and believes
08:54that he could beat you right now. How would that fight go down if that would happen?
08:59Let's do it, man. I said to... I heard that they mentioning, you know, that matchup and
09:09I said to George, I said to Frank, give me that fight. I'm, you know, more than happy
09:19to have that fight so... But I think he's still, you know, he's still young. They need
09:27to be cautious with him to match him properly and to develop his potential and not to rush
09:36him too soon into some hard fight and we'll see, you know. But he, like I said, he got
09:45skills and we'll see does he has, you know, heart of a warrior.
09:49Can I ask about your foot quickly? How much of that was a hindrance to you in this particular fight?
09:56I don't hear you, man.
09:57Sorry, the foot they had in this fight, how much of that was a problem for you and do
10:03you feel like that hindered you in the game of potential stopping?
10:07Yeah, it was open on first round and I didn't like it and it was bothering me for one, two
10:20rounds. Blood was coming into the eye but Abel did great job in corner so since third,
10:30fourth round it didn't give me any problems. Just maybe two rounds the blood was coming
10:38into my eye and, you know, when you get a cut you don't see how big it is, you know.
10:46It's not painful, you know, but you don't know how big it is and of course I was not
10:54and that happened. But, yeah, I endured. Abel did a great job so we did it.
11:03Do you feel like you're in the same position you are now after this win if you weren't
11:08going into that part of the game?
11:10No, no, I'm not. I need one more win. I was mandatory challenger and I was undefeated.
11:20I beat Zhang, you know, and now I think I need one more fight to get into the position
11:28and we'll see. You never know in boxing. Boxing is crazy business. You never know what's
11:35going to happen. There's not so many rules.
11:39And Abel as well. Obviously, as Philips coach, who would you like as a former coach?
11:48You know, there's a lot of guys out there. It's up to Frank and Keith and obviously
11:55Philip to sit down and discuss who's next but whoever's next will prepare for that
11:59and I promise you'll be in better shape the next time. We didn't have enough time
12:03but he did his job. It doesn't matter to me who they put in front of him as long as
12:08he's okay with it and Keith and George and Frank do their thing.
12:13Philips, there's been a lot of conversation about if Joe Joyce lost this fight, what
12:19should be next for him is retirement, necessary. Now you've faced him, you've seen what
12:24you can bring to the ring. Do you feel like there's a future for him at the top level
12:29still? What did you make of his performance in that ring?
12:32I think he can give anyone a hard fight because he's just tough. He keeps coming, he throws
12:38a lot of punches, he's big. He'll give anyone a tough fight, anyone in the division
12:43but I think for his health it would be the best that he retires because he had a lot
12:52of tough fights, he received a lot of punches. He has that open style, not so great defense
13:00and like I said, he can give anyone a tough fight but my opinion is that he should retire
13:09because of his health and that's the most important thing in the end, to be healthy
13:15after boxing. He's a warrior, I respect him. He did amazing achievements as an amateur
13:25and as a professional but now he's maybe too old at this moment and I think he should
13:38retire, that's my opinion. Without any disrespect but I think it will be the best for him.
13:46When you do have a full camp, next time out, what would you like to see from Phillip that
13:54we haven't seen from him yet, maybe in his career or certainly tonight?
13:59I think that in moments in this particular fight, he took his foot off the gas because
14:05of thinking that we didn't have a full camp. He wanted to make sure that I could see it,
14:08he wanted to make sure in the middle rounds to have enough at the end. For the next camp
14:15not only will the sparring be better but it will be longer sparring sessions and he'll
14:19have the strength and conditioning that he should have had for this fight. He didn't
14:22get that but still, if he did this well with not even a half a camp, I can imagine what
14:27he can do with a full camp.
14:30There's a lot of names that have been thrown around today.
14:33I've heard that Beyonce Wilder, he's making a name for himself.
14:36Is that someone that you're looking at today?
14:38I don't know, to fight him as well or is there someone on your radar?
14:42I'll fight anyone, man.
14:44I never refused any fight so I'll fight anyone. It's just about my promoter and my manager
14:54and the offer and we'll see what's the best route for me to get back for a title shot
15:03but I'll fight anyone. We'll see.
15:09Do you have a message to the people back home?
15:19To creation?
15:21On creation?
15:22Yeah, yeah.
15:25Hello everyone. With God's help, I won. Thank you all for your support.
15:35I'm back in style and this time we're going for a world title with God's help.
15:46God and Croatia.
16:07Take that water, Philip.
16:12Thank you guys.