A clash between heavyweights Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois is close to being a done deal for June 1st in Saudi Arabia, according to Mike Coppinger. This is a highly dangerous fight for Hrgovic, who may run out of luck against the big banger Dubois.
Hrgovic-Dubois will be on the undercard of the light heavyweight clash between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. Also on the card could be Deontay Wilder vs. Zhilei Zhang heavyweight crossroads fights between the two aging fighters.
If the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk victor vacates the IBF title, the Hrgovic vs. Dubois fight winner is expected to battle Anthony Joshua for it. That’s where the money comes in for Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KOs) or Dubois (20-2, 19 KOs).
Hrgovic Rolls the Dice
The 31-year-old Croatian Hrgovic is putting his IBF mandatory spot on the line against the 26-year-old Dubois, and he could live to regret it. The money that Hrgovic is getting for the Dubois fight is the likely reason why he’s willing to take this potentially difficult fight rather than sit and wait for a clash against Joshua.
A loss for the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Hrgovic sends him back into the back, where it could take him years to work his way back to the place he’s at now as the #1 with the IBF.
Dubois’ Chance to Shine
Dubois recently bounced back from his loss to IBF/WBA/WBO champion Usyk last December with a tenth-round knockout win over Jarrell Miller. The loss Dubois suffered against Usyk should arguably have been a win after a questionable call by the referee in the fifth round when he dropped Oleksandr with a belt line shot.
If Dubois is victorious, he’ll get a massive money fight against Joshua with the vacant IBF title on the line, and in a position to ruin AJ’s dream of a clash against Tyson Fury, spoiling all the hard work that promoter Eddie Hearn has done in rebuilding the 2012 Olympic gold medalist from scratch.