Heavyweight Daniel Dubois claims that he’s going to “retire” Filip Hrgovic on June 1st when the two meet at the 5v5 event on DAZN in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KOs) reportedly said that he’ll retire if he loses to Dubois (20-2, 19 KOs) in their 12-round match-up on the Matchroom vs. Queensberry show at the Kingdom Arena. The vacant IBF title could be on the line for the Hrgovic vs. Dubois fight, which make it an even bigger fight.
Sparring History
It’s unknown whether the 31-year-old Croatian Hrgovic is serious about retiring, but if so, he’d be walking away from many future money fights. Even if the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Hrgovic does get beaten by Dubois, he still has a great future ahead of him. He would be silly to retire without trying to rebuild.
Dubois got the worst of it when the two sparred years ago, but as he points out, it was just sparring, and it doesn’t mean anything.
A fight is a different thing, and Dubois has shown a lot of improvements lately. The 26-year-old Dubois is a different fighter than the one that sparred Hrgovic in the last and it’ll be interesting to see who comes out on top on June 1st.
Dubois Unfazed by Retirement Talk
“It was a hard spar. He said, ‘This kid was f*** tough,” said Daniel Dubois to the iFL TV YouTube channel when asked about his sparring session in the past with Filip Hrgovic. “Anyway, that’s sparring. it’s irrelevant, really. Let’s go, I’m ready for a fight.
“Nothing. If he’s going to retire, let him retire. I’ll retire him,” said Dubois reacting to being told that Hrgovic claimed that he’ll retire if he loses to him on June 1st. “Honestly, I don’t feel anything about what he’s got to say.
“I did a job on [Jarrell] ‘Big Baby’ [Miller’ and now I got to do a job on him. On paper, it’s a harder fight, but in reality, with what I can do when I get in there, I can make it an easier fight for myself just being on form. I need to be on form and stay in right mind.
IBF Title in Play?
“I’ve heard about it. Let’s see what happens. Keep tune in,” said Dubois when asked if the vacant IBF heavyweight title will be on the line when he faces Hrgovic on June 1st.
If Dubois can get his hands on the IBF title, it would open the door for a fight against Anthony Joshua or the winner of the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk fight.
