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Filip Hrgovic Produces Last Ditch Knockout Against Demsey McKean

Written by Kerr Ferguson on 12th August 2023.

Filip Hrgovic and Demsey McKean

Filip Hrgovic produced a final round stoppage after a laboured performance against game southpaw, Demsey McKean.

The Matchroom show from London’s O2 Arena was broadcast live on DAZN worldwide. Both men entered the ring undefeated, and Hrgovic (15-0, 12 KOs) put his IBF mandatory position on the line.

He struggled last time out against a southpaw in the form of Zhilei Zhang – a fight many felt he lost – and was in front of a relatively untested and therefore unknown entity in McKean (22-0, 14 KOs). This was the first time the Aussie was scheduled for twelve.

Tony Sims trained McKean came forward with his jab from the first bell, looking for the range with his long reach. Neither man was keen on committing too much at this early stage, with Hrgovic looking to land on the body when he did.

The battle of the front feet threatened to make the contest messy, but Hrgovic was already dealing better with the lefty stance this time around. He landed with more success in the second, including a statement right-left that no doubt caught the eyes of the judges.

McKean started the third with good work to the body, but the shots lacked the spite of Hrgovic’s, who returned with rights, targetting the head now. Ronnie Shields in his corner urged him to keep fighting when McKean held on, and he did so, making it a more scrappy affair.

McKean looked close to trouble just before the bell, visibly tired and getting caught too much in with a man like ‘El Animal.’

The southpaw was in danger of the fight running away from him in the fourth and needed to change the narrative, but the accuracy from Hrgovic was trending upwards.

Both men were a little slower in the fifth, allowing McKean to get on the front foot and outland his Croatian foe in the first 90 seconds. Hrgovic answered back with a big, flush right hand in the final 30.

The sixth saw a much slower pace with opportunities missed from both men due to fatigue. All jabs to start the seventh and it was losing its fizz rapidly. McKean had an impressive flurry and held onto a tired Hrgovic as much as he could.

The Aussie – an athlete in other sports before entering boxing – looked the fresher in the eighth, by a distance too. Hrgovic put three or four hooks into the body in the ninth, his only flurry for a while. He followed up with a big right hook and McKean grasped on with all he had.

The Aussie was wobbled – but did Hrgovic have it in him to finish the job? Not then and there – McKean returned in the tenth with more about him. The strategy for him at this point was hit and hold. Frustratingly sluggish going into the eleventh.

Hrgovic landed a big looping right hook to start the round but was too willing to back into the ropes. McKean had the quicker hands, and could grapple and smother the Croatian’s limited work at will.

A huge right hand in the twelfth – one Hrgovic had been looking for all night – caught McKean with his hands down. He staggered and the ropes kept him up as Hrgovic mounted the final attack. The referee waved it off despite McKean staying on his feet – the right decision.

Within the final flurry there were a couple of rabbit punches – something Hrgovic did take advantage of on occasion throughout the fight.

Onto the next for Hrgovic, and that is the winner of unified champion Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois on August 26. Should the Ukrainian hold onto his titles, fans will be of the mind that Hrgovic must work on his conditioning.