Filip Hrgovic regained some momentum by grinding out a unanimous points decision win over Joe Joyce, who crashed to a fourth defeat in five fights.
Joyce (16-4, 15 KOs) is in danger of slipping out of view on the heavyweight scene as his career continued to unravel after Hrgovic (18-1, 14 KOs) earned scores of 97-93, 96-95, and 98-92 at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
It was not emphatic from Hrgovic, 32, from Zagreb in Croatia, but he did enough to get his career back on track after his first professional defeat in June last year when he was stopped on cuts by Joyce's English rival Daniel Dubois, who is now the IBF world heavyweight champion.
"I took this fight at short notice and I wasn't quite ready," Hrgovic said.
"I'm looking forward to big fights in the future. This guy [Joyce] is like steel, he took a lot of big shots. This guy beat Dubois, I want a rematch with Dubois. I did very bad in the last fight and I want the rematch one day."
California-based trainer Abel Sanchez was in Hrgovic's corner for the first time and there is still some work to do if the Croatian is to emerge as one of the heavyweight division's leading boxers.
But Hrgovic still landed better quality punches than Joyce, who suffered another setback following a points defeat to Derek Chisora last year and back-to-back stoppage losses to Zhilei Zhang in 2023. Joyce afterwards said he will box on, despite the losing trend and punishment he has taken in recent fights.
Joyce, the 2016 Olympic super heavyweight silver medallist from Putney in London, has looked vulnerable in recent fights and it did not take Hrgovic long to find gaps in his defence. Hrgovic landed a heavy right hand in Round 1, which seemed to momentarily stun Joyce, and more punches found the target before the bell.
However, Hrgovic sustained a cut above his left eye in Round 1 and through the second round his face became smeared in blood. Since he had lost his previous fight to Dubois on cuts, it was both a promising and worrying start for Hrgovic.
Joyce, who won a split decision over Hrgovic when they were amateurs in 2013, was better in the second round but he was caught by some clean shots in Round 3.
Hrgovic landed quick combinations through Round 4, but Joyce's work rate and single shots kept him in the fight. Despite landing some clean punches, Hrgovic was unable to seriously trouble Joyce like when he landed a series of unanswered punches to end Round 8.
But Joyce looked close to succumbing in Round 9 when Hrgovic repeatedly landed his right hand and the Croatian finished the final, 10th round in control.
Also on the bill, Delicious Orie, who failed to win a medal at last year's Olympics, got his professional career off to a successful but unspectacular start with a points win over Milos Veletic.
Orie, 27, who was born in Russia but moved to England aged seven, was outpointed in his first bout in Paris last summer, after starting the competition as the No. 2 seed. After that disappointment, Wolverhampton-based Orie decided to end his amateur career and began his professional one with a comfortable 40-36 points decision.
Veletic (3-8, 1 KO), from Bosnia and Herzegovina, denied Orie the KO he hunted for much of the four-round bout but none of his hooks landed clean enough to hurt the journeyman.
David Adeleye (14-1, 13 KOs) controversially stopped Jeamie Tshikeva (8-2, 5 KOs) in Round 6 to win the vacant British heavyweight title.
Referee Ron Kearney called for a break and grabbed Tshikeva's left arm during a clinch, but Adeleye continued fighting. As Tshikeva adhered to the referee's instruction, Adeleye landed a great left hook which sent Tshikeva to the canvas. When Tshikeva got up he was unsteady and Adeleye pounced on him to force another knockdown which prompted Kearney to wave the fight off 55 seconds into the round.
This was Adeleye's second consecutive win since Fabio Wardley stopped him in seven rounds in October 2023.
It was also announced just before Joyce vs. Hrgovic that Wardley (18-0-1, 17 KOs), 30, will box New York's Jarrell Miller (26-1-2, 22 KOs), 36, for the vacant WBA interim heavyweight title in his home town of Ipswich at Portman Road, home of English Premier League side Ipswich Town on June 7.
Wardley is coming off a first round KO of English rival Frazer Clarke in October and will face his most experienced opponent yet in Miller, who drew with former world champion Andy Ruiz in his last outing in August.