JOE JOYCE is finished as a top-tier heavyweight after another punishing defeat to Filip Hrgovic.

The 39-year-old Putney man is too tough and decent and brave to keep taking these beatings.

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And he is showing signs of decline which people around him must now address before it is too late.

The judges called it: 97-93, 96-95 and 98-92, confirming the fourth loss in five bouts for Joyce, who needs firm but fair advice.

Joyce was slow and hittable from the opening Manchester bell, getting tagged from the off.

Hrgovic, 32, couldn’t miss with almost every punch he threw but it was the Croatian bookies’ favourite who was cut over his left eye.

Joyce’s punch-eating hobby was evident again in the second, when Hrgovic was free to ping his braided skull.

But Hrgovic  – whose only previous loss came on cuts against Daniel Dubois – was leaking blood again at an alarming rate.

Slow Joe woke up in round three and showed some of his 2016 Olympic silver pedigree.

But Hrgovic’s hands were too fast and accurate for our Brit in the fourth.

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After hopes of early KO faded, a quick exit became the second-best outcome but the 10-round fight trudged into the second half.

Hrgovic looked deflated and defeated by the start of round eight, after hitting Joyce with his best shots and not making a dent.

Joyce was battered at the end of round eight but his freakishly tough skull helped him survive again.

And the West Londoner was peppered again in the ninth, after his woeful coach insisted he “stop overthinking things”.

And the Englishman was smacked and slapped again in the final session, when it had already become hard to watch and only the visitor celebrated at the final bell.