The IBF had to go through their rankings all the way to #13 Zhilei Zhang to find an opponent for #3 Filip Hrgovic to fight in a world heavyweight title final eliminator to name the mandatory challenger for the IBF world title held by Oleksandr Usyk.
“I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for more than year,” said Hrgovic. “Finally, I have an opponent willing to face me for the chance to fight for the IBF world title. So many fighters turned down this challenge so credit to Zhang for being brave enough to accept. I know he’s a good opponent. He won silver at the Olympics so that means he’s a good boxer, but he is too slow on his feet and I believe I have the better qualities. My speed, stamina, and footwork will be too much for him. I will break him down and I will beat him. I’m now only one fight away from my dream of boxing for a world title and nothing is going to stop me.”
The bout will take place May 7 on the Canelo-Bivol PPV card in Las Vegas. “Canelo is the face of boxing and I’m excited to get this opportunity on such a big show,” added Hrgović. “I’m ready to show the whole world that ‘El Animal’ is coming!”
Zhang commented, “I am very happy that this fight is going to happen. I’ve been waiting on an opportunity – now it’s here and I’m not going to let it pass. When no one else from the top 15 wanted to face Hrgovic, I told myself that I had to do it for me, and for the sport of boxing. This is the most important fight of my whole career. I’m all in. Don’t miss it!”
Totally agree with Hrgovic. Zhang is a credible opponent, but seems too static to beat Hrgovic. It’s pretty embarrassing that so many fighters had a chance to fight in an IBF eliminator and turned it down. If Hrgovic meets Usyk, I’d only favor Usyk slightly. Hrgovic would press him much harder than Joshua did, although I expect Joshua to adapt in the rematch.
How much you want to bet if and when Canelo beats Bivol your going to hear the arm chair warriors call out for him to go all the way to heavyweight and fight Filip.
Bone head Ladyboy fools are never happy..
Canelo vs Fury in a David vs Goliath circus match. Canelo gets one legal nut punch a round to level the height advantage
Zhang is not a credible opponent should have stayed an amateur, this is good news for Hrgovic who is definitely a contender we will see how well he does and were he is at should be able to stop the Chinese dude
And whats with the absolute rubbish comments below from George and Nick keep it real fellas dont know why your even on these forums clearly no moderation made
Zhang could give Hrgovick a good fight, but not much more than that to be realistic.
Just hope the ref is good in checking for punching behind the head. Hrgovic does this a lot. Not many will like this comment I know, but putting it out there.
His flagrant and intentional rabbit punching is the reason no one wants to fight him. While low punches get most of the attention from referees, Hrgovic seems to get away with intentional rabbit punches that can cause serious brain injuries.
Stop with your bias and dishonest comment. Hrgovic does not rabbit punch and you’re only referring to the fight with Eric Molina where the Mexican-American kept turning his head the instant the Croatian went to throw his right hand. Hrgovic doesn’t do this all the time and anybody who has seen more than one of his fights knows this. You’re just biased against eastern European Fighters, just admit it.
@Chris the natural: Watch more of Hrgovic’s fights. He aims for the back of the head far too often.
@Chris the natural: Why would I be biased against eastern European Fighters? Where you get that BS from. You don’t know what you are talking about. Of the toughest boxers come from that region nowadays.
seems a bit of a mis-match
It’s a walk in the park for Hrgovic, Zhang is big but way too slow..
I don’t think FH is that fast. He throws heavy shots but top tier guys will see his punches coming.