Filip Hrgovic says he hopes to face Anthony Joshua next at Wembley Stadium if he’s victorious tonight in his clash against Daniel Dubois for the interim IBF heavyweight title in Riyadh.
Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KOs) feels that the IBF full title should be on the line tonight against Dubois (20-2, 19 KOs), but the sanctioning body has chosen to allow champion Oleksandr Usyk to keep it for now.
Joshua will be in attendance tonight at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, and he could face the winner of the Hrgovic vs. Dubois fight if the IBF peels away the title from Usyk to make it available by the time he returns to the ring.
It’s unclear whether the IBF will because there’s a lot of interest in the undisputed being at stake for the rematch between Usyk and Tyson Fury on December 21st. That’s a bigger fight on paper than a match between Joshua and the Hrgovic-Dubois winner.
Given the huge fan interest in the Fury-Usyk 2 rematch, it makes more sense for the International Boxing Federation to allow Usyk to hold onto his IBF strap to have all four belts at stake for that fight.
Hrgovic’s Wembley Dream
“With Joshua? I hope so. Everyone says it’s next if I win this fight, but we’ll see. You never know in boxing,” said Filip Hrgovic to Secondsout when asked about him potentially fighting Anthony Joshua next if he’s victorious tonight against Daniel Dubois in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Promoter Eddie Hearn mentioned Joshua possibly fighting Deontay Wilder next if he looks good tonight in his main event fight against Zhilei Zhang. That’s the other possibility for Joshua that he’ll need to decide on. It might come down to the IBF.
If they strip the IBF title from Usyk and elevate the winner of tonight’s contest to full champion or make it available for September, Joshua could go in that direction for his next fight. It doesn’t look like the IBF is going to do that, though, so Joshua may choose to fight Wilder next if he wins tonight or maybe Zhang if he’s victorious and looks sensational.
“A lot of talk, but we’ll see what happens after Saturday. Joshua at Wembley that would be amazing,” said Hrgovic when asked what he would like to see next for him.
“We’ll see. He quit a few times, but he also showed a couple of good performances,” said Hrgovic about Dubois. “He’s a good fighter. Everyone that steps into the ring, you cannot call him a coward. We are all fighters; we are all warriors. We’ll do our best, and we’ll see what happens.”
It would be a mistake for Hrgovic to count on Dubois quitting against him tonight because he’s going to be fighting tooth and nail, knowing that he could have a shot at fighting Joshua next.
Hrgovic’s self-confidence is out of touch with what he’s shown thus far in recent fights. Demsey McKean and Zhang hurt him; many feel he was given a gift against the two-time Chinese Olympian. Hrgovic is a good fighter, but not on the level that he thinks.
“He has a good jab, a fast jab. He has good power; if you give him a chance and you stay close by, he has good power,” said Hrgovic. “But if you move, he is a little bit too slow to catch,” Hrgovic said about Dubois.
“I don’t know. With that IBF thing, it’s going around for the last four years. So, I don’t know what to expect from the IBF,” said Hrgovic when asked if he thinks he’ll get a world title shot if he’s victorious tonight. “It should have been for this fight for the IBF belt. That was the deal. I don’t know what will happen. We’ll see.”
It would be an unpopular move for the IBF to strip Usyk right now ahead of his rematch with Fury, as it’s a contractual thing. It’s not going to be the end of the world for Hrgovic to wait one more fight for him to get a title shot against the winner of the Usyk vs. Fury second fight. Of course, if Hrgovic loses tonight, it’s a moot point.
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