Trainer of Daniel Dubois, Don Charles, has criticised the behaviour of Filip Hrgovic during the build-up to his IBF final eliminator against his man, declaring that he will be in for a ‘rude awakening’ on Saturday night after continuously bringing up sparring sessions of the past.
Hrgovic-Dubois has long been expected to be a showdown for the vacant IBF heavyweight world title, although the IBF have yet to strip Oleksandr Usyk during the aftermath of the Ukrainian’s undisputed title win against Tyson Fury this month and instead the bout has been rendered as a final eliminator.
At the launch press conference and during the well-documented build-up to the event, Hrgovic has been vocal in his belief that the fight will be over extremely quickly if the Briton has not improved from their previous spars – spars which Dubois dismissed because he was just a teenager, despite Hrgovic’s claims that he caused ‘Triple D’ to postpone his 2018 Southern Area title fight with DL Jones.
In an interview with Boxing Social, Don Charles labelled Hrgovic as ‘arrogant’ and explained why he believes the undefeated Croatian is unprepared for a clash with Dubois – who came mighty close to defeating Oleksandr Usyk for the unified heavyweight crown when they met last August.
“[I have] excitement for the opportunity, yes. Whatever Mr. Hrgovic brings, we have made provisions to accommodate it.
I’ll be honest with you, apart from Daniel getting into the ring and knocking him out, what I have noticed is that this guy [Hrgovic] is actually very arrogant. A very, very arrogant individual.
“So, what is going to be his downfall is that arrogancy. It is alright to be confident, but to be arrogant in the sense that he things he has just got to turn up and he has won – he is going to get a rude awakening on the night.
You have only got to look at Daniel’s knockout percentage on BoxRec and you will see that the knockout percentage is pretty high, higher than Hrgovic’s.
“Has he fought anyone like Daniel Dubois stylistically? Probably not. I’ve studied his fights, it is not for me to start telling you A.B.C. about Hrgovic but we have done our homework and all will be revealed on Saturday night.”
As an Olympic bronze medallist, who holds a win over Zhilei Zhang (albeit a controversial one), Hrgovic goes into the bout as the favourite irrespective of Dubois’ recent impressive win over Jarrell Miller.
In spite of the heartbreak that this contest will not be for a world title, there remains the allure of a title shot and a monumental payday against Anthony Joshua seemingly up for grabs, with a date now confirmed for ‘AJ’s’ return to Wembley Stadium and potential shot at become a three-time world champion.
Hrgovic-Dubois takes place on Saturday night, live on DAZN PPV and TNT Sports Box Office as a part of the ‘Queensberry versus Matchroom; five versus five’ undercard.
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