Joe Joyce won’t have to worry about taking a step down in class after original opponent Dillian Whyte withdrew from their heavyweight fight on April 5.

Joyce, 16-3 (15 KOs), will face Filip Hrgovic, 17-1 (14 KOs), on that card, in a fight set for 10 rounds at Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England. The crossroads fight was confirmed to Ring Magazine by promoter Frank Warren, who calls it “a tough fight for both of them.

“It’s exactly the same as the fight he had before, Joe against Dillian. The winner goes on; the loser is going to have to think about what he does.”

Hrgovic, 32, of Zagreb, Croatia, is looking to rebound from his first defeat, an eighth-round stoppage loss to Daniel Dubois last June in Saudi Arabia. The 39-year-old Joyce, of London, is fighting to regain his standing as a top heavyweight after losing three of his past four fights, including a 10-round decision loss to Derek Chisora last July in his most recent fight.

Whyte announced his withdrawal from the Joyce fight last week, citing a finger injury.

The April 5 date, which will be broadcast by DAZN, now needs to find a replacement co-main event after Lawrence Okolie withdrew from his cruiserweight bout with domestic rival Richard Riakporhe due to an unspecified injury.

Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.