Anthony Joshua is in the gym working towards his next fight but has taken time out to share his view on what might happen should Filip Hrgovic get his shot at Oleksandr Usyk.
Hrgovic is now the mandatory challenger to Usyk’s IBF belt, one of the three he holds alongside the WBA and WBO titles. He has manoeuvred himself into position with recent wins over Dempsey McKean and Zhilei Zhang and has firmly stated that he will not move aside for Tyson Fury who he says has ‘had his chance’.
Usyk has most recently seen off the challenge of young Brit Daniel Dubois despite a controversial was-it-wasn’t-it low blow moment in the fifth round. The Ukrainian went on to stop Dubois and successfully defended for a second time the belts he won from Joshua in 2021.
As such Joshua is well placed to cast his eye over the potential upcoming bout between the two.
Speaking to Misfits Boxing, he was asked about how the fight would go and came down on the side of his former foe.
“Hrgovic is good. Good puncher. Usyk’s a very top operator, but anything can happen in boxing, even though I would put Usyk as the favourite you just never know. but I’m, putting Usyk as the favourite.”
Joshua’s last outing was a knockout win of late stand-in Robert Helenius, who it later emerged failed a drug test in the run-up to the fight – the second man to do so after Dillian Whyte was removed from the card with just days to go for the same reason.
Many people now expect him to face off with Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia at the start of 2024, though Eddie Hearn has admitted progress is slow and they now may look at other locations to host the fight.