Filip Hrgovic says he wants Anthony Joshua to battle for the vacant IBF heavyweight title in March, and he’s predicting a victory over the former WBC champion.
The IBF title will be vacated after Tyson Fury & Oleksandr Usyk battle on February 17th, as the two will be fighting a rematch, and the winner won’t be able to defend the belt against #1 Hrgovic.
Joshua is ranked #2 IBF after his victory last Saturday night against Otto Wallin, so he’ll be the one that faces Hrgovic for the belt if that’s the direction that he and his promoter want.
AJ can’t afford to stumble in this fight with Hrgovic because that would destroy his hopes of fighting the Fury-Usyk winner in late 2024. Hopefully, Joshua & his promoter know what they’re getting into by taking on the 6’5″ Hrgovic.
If AJ loses to Hrgovic, that could mean another three confidence-builder-level opponents, as we’ve just seen, and another wasted year.
Echoing Hearn’s wish list
Hrgovic’s words will make AJ’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, happy because that’s the fight that he wants for his fighter now that the March 9th clash against Deontay Wilder has been derailed.
Some would argue that Hrgovic is the one that Hearn wanted all along and was never excited about Joshua fighting Deontay, even though that’s a much bigger fight and the one fans wanted to see.
Wilder would have been a hard fight for Joshua if he were firing on all cylinders like he’d been in his previous fight against Robert Helenius.
Hearn couldn’t stop talking about a fight between Joshua & Hrgovic last Saturday night post-fight after AJ’s blowout fifth round stoppage win over Otto Wallin in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
There was no question about who Hearn wanted Joshua to fight next. He wants Joshua-Hrgovic so badly because he feels confident AJ will win, and fans feel the same way.
Proven contender
Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KOs) fought on the same card last Saturday, destroying Mark De Mori (41-3-2, 36 KOs) in a first round knockout. The 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Hrgovic has recent wins over these fighters:
– Demsey McKean
– Zhilei Zhang
– Emir Ahmatovic
– Marko Radonjic
– Rydell Booker
“A lot of options. I know I’m the next in the line. Whoever it will be, I believe I will fight for the title. I just want a title shot. I don’t care who it is,” said Filip Hrgovic to iFL TV about him being next in line to challenge for the IBF heavyweight title.
“I would like to fight Anthony Joshua. He’s one of the biggest names in the sport, and I feel I can beat him,” said Hrgovic.
