Joe Joyce has been called and compared to many things in his boxing career to date, yet never has he been described by an opponent as being like “fog”.

That was until this afternoon, however, when that very word was used by Filip Hrgovic at a press conference in Manchester. 

At the time Hrgovic, 17-1 (14), had just been asked to respond to Joyce’s claim that he would knock him out on Saturday and struggled to fathom how a heavyweight as slow as Joyce would be able to achieve such a feat. 

“He’s slow like fog,” said Hrgovic, much to the confusion of Joyce, who asked him to repeat the word, and many others. “Your next nickname could be ‘Fog’: Joe ‘Fog’ Joyce. He’s very slow. I don’t know how he’s going to knock me out. But, look, we’ll see on Saturday. He’s a good fighter, a brave man, and I am as well. It’s going to be a good fight, definitely.”

In response, Joyce, clearly amused by the comparison, rightly pointed out that Hrgovic is not particularly quick himself and continued to see the funny side of it all. “I know exactly what to expect,” he said. “I’ve fought him before [in the amateurs] and I’ve trained with Abel [Sanchez, Hrgovic’s coach] before. He’s had a lot of mileage, too. He’s been in the sport a long time; he’s had a lot of hard fights. But I think it’s going to be a great fight and I look forward to knocking him out on Saturday night.”

Joyce’s mention of mileage was in answer to Hrgovic’s earlier dig at Joyce’s age and wear and tear. This came before the insult regarding his speed, or lack thereof, and led to another humorous exchange on the subject of age. 

“Man’s, he’s 40 years old,” said Hrgovic, when asked if Joyce had seen better days. 

“Actually, 39,” said Joyce. “But near enough.”

“Okay, I didn’t know. If he’s 39 then he’s young,” said Hrgovic, smiling. “I thought you were 40. But, look, he’s definitely not at the peak of his career and fighters get old and that’s just the reality. I’m seven years younger and I think it’s going to play a role in this fight.”

Hrgovic, 32, was for a while seen as The Next Big Thing at heavyweight, but his career was slow to progress and catch fire. It was then derailed altogether last June when Daniel Dubois damaged his face to such an extent that their scheduled 12-rounder was stopped in round eight. 

Now, 10 months on, Hrgovic is looking to get back on track by taking this fight with Joyce on only a few weeks’ notice following the withdrawal of Dillian Whyte, the original opponent.

“It was short notice,” said the Croatian. “I had just a few weeks. But I was already in good shape. That is why I accepted this fight. I think it’s a good opportunity for me and this win will hopefully bring me back to the top. I’m looking forward to winning on Saturday, knocking him out, and getting back to the top. That’s the plan. 

“The motivation is big, for sure. Like Frank [Warren, promoter] said at the beginning, the loser will be in a very bad position. I don’t want to lose.”

If a loss is unthinkable for Hrgovic, one can only imagine what it would do to the career of Joe Joyce, 16-3 (15). He, after all, not only turns 40 in September, but has also lost three of his last four fights. 

“It’s a good fight,” Joyce said of Saturday’s main event. “It’s good to share the ring with Hrgovic again – we had a good scrap last time, 12 years ago. The same result [a Joyce win] is going to happen. I’m going to win and then get elevated back to the top of the sport.”