By Charles Brun: Unbeaten heavyweight contender Filip ‘Stone Man’ Hrgovic is highly interested in facing Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois. The 28-year-old Hrgovic (11-0, 9 KOs) had success sparring with the then 21-year-old Dubois two years ago in 2018, and now he wants to fight him.
The chances for the big punching ‘Stone Man’ Hrgovic of getting a fight against Dubois are remote at best. He’s too dangerous for Dubois, and he’s not ranked high enough to give him a boost in the rankings if he wins.
It’s unclear why #6 IBF and #15 WBO contender Hrgovic waited this long to show interest in fighting Dubois, and it’s unknown why he’s not ranked in the top five in the division at 28. Hrgovic is five years older than #2 WBO and #7 WBC, and yet he’s ranked below him.
Hearn wants Dubois to face Hrgovic
The lackluster opposition that the 6’6″ Hrgovic’s management has put him in during his three-year professional career has obviously slowed his progress up the rankings.
Despite capturing a bronze medal in the 2016 Olympics, Hrgovic has been matched the way that a complete novice would by his management with them putting him in with poor opposition throughout his career.
The soft match-making continues for Hrgovic next month with him facing 39-year-old journeyman Rydell Booker (26-3, 13 KOs) on November 7th in a 10-round fight at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Hollywood, Florida.
“Great fight. We’ve all heard the sparring stories, let’s find out if they’re true or not,” said Hrgovic’s co-promoter Eddie Hearn said to Sky Sports about Dubois. “Two great young heavyweights, who are both top 10 in the world now.”
Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren is all that interested in making a fight between Daniel and Hrgovic. He’s already looking to schedule the 6’5″ Dubois against 2016 Olympic silver medalist Joe Joyce (11-0, 10 KOs) in a fight that is expected to take place in December.
Dubois gains nothing in facing Hrgovic
With Dubois already ranked high at #2 with the World Boxing Organization, he would be in a position to challenge for a world title against the winner of the two fights between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury by 2022.
If Dubois has to become a mandatory challenge before he fights for the WBO title, he may need to wait until 2023 to get his shot. If the current WBO mandatory Oleksandr Usyk doesn’t get his mandated title shot in 2021, then that could slow things down for Dubois.
“Daniel has had a number of competitive spars throughout his short career,” said Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren told Sky Sports. “He put in good, 50-50 rounds with Hrgovic and even once sparked Anthony Joshua out.
“From our side, we’re happy to have Daniel booked in the biggest domestic heavyweight fight in years with Joe Joyce, who beat Hrgovic in the World Series of Boxing.
“Rather than worry about Dubois, maybe they should worry about their man [Hrgovic] and get him a proper fight,” said Warren.
Frank is correct about the need for Sauerland and Matchroom Boxing to get some proper fights for Hrgovic because that’s what he desperately needs at this point in his career.
Daniel has faced better opposition than Filip
In Hrgovic’s last fight, he defeated horribly over-matched 39-year-old Alexandr Kartozia by a second-round knockout last month on September 26th in Struer, Denmark. This was a step down for Hrgovic for his previous fight against former world title challenger Eric Molina.
The best opposition on Hrgovic’s resume:
- Eric Molina
- Memo Heredia
- Kevin Johnson
- Amir Mansour
- Tom Little
In comparison, the much younger Dubois’ best opposition are these fighters:
- Nathan Gorman
- Kyotaro Fujimoto
- Ebenezer Tetteh
- Richard Lartey
- Razvan Cojanu
- Kevin Johnson