Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, at one time or another, have been ruling the heavyweight division for years now, and Oleksandr Usyk has joined to disrupt that – but a fresh crop of fighters are coming up and one believes he’s ready to take the top spot.
Croatian sensation, Filip Hrgovic, won Gold at the Europeans in 2015 and Bronze at the 2016 Olympic Games before turning over to the pro ranks in 2017.
Fighting out of the orthodox stance, he blew through his first 14 opponents, winning twelve of them in the first five rounds.
He came up against the toughest test of his career in China’s Zhilei Zhang last year, a distance fight that many thought went Zhang’s way despite it being awarded unanimously to Hrgovic.
If that has stunted his hype, he’s determined to gain back the notoriety by calling out the division’s top names. In an interview with iFL TV, Hrgovic said:
“I want the rematch with Zhang Zhilei, this year or whatever, I just want that rematch, he is number one on my wish list because I want to make things clear, I want to knock him out and shut mouth of everyone.
There are a lot big names. Joshua is a great fight for me, I want to fight with Usyk, Fury, Frank Sanchez is a good fighter, I want to fight Martin Bakole as well – a lot of good names a lot of good challenges to me.
On my day I beat anyone, boxing is unpredictable so future will show who is the real do, but I strongly believe in my abilities that I can beat anybody.”
Hrgovic is currently without a date or opponent, but is the IBF’s number one ranked contender and therefor mandatory challenger for the belt held by Oleksandr Usyk.