The silver medalist of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, British heavyweight Joe Joyce (5-0, 5 KOs) scored a quick victory in the first round over the Croatian Ivica Bacurin (29-14-1, 18 KOs), who agreed to fight in just a few days before the date of the fight. Initially, Joyce was about to hold the first defense of his British Commonwealth title against Richard Larty (12-1, 9 KOs) from Ghana.
Bacurin from the very beginning began to run around the ring, and fell to his knees at the first slightest noticeable missed combo of two in the head. On the floor Bacurin desperately signaled to the referee that the blows fell on the back of the head, but the referee calmly counted to 10 and stopped the fight under the indignant booing of spectators.
