This is another enigma to me, there has been a few in my time. Really reminds me of vitali in the sense of having that big robotic awkward style and tough as old boots. Good fundamentals. Really good chin But for some reason the desire or stamina just isn't there. Let's get some views on if that's because he has a stamina problem or is it his desire where he might not train quite like he should at this level
Looks to me like he's been on the decline for years, physically and emotionally. From around 2020 onwards he's looked in worse and worse shape. I think this is because of the lack of challenges in his career. He's an example of one of my most hated things in boxing, guys that turn pro late and then fight poor opposition for so long that by the time they step up they're basically past it. His father's passing may also have something to do with his increasingly worse performances. He's neglected training hard for years because his opponents have been poor enough for him to beat them without training hard. This isn't entirely his fault though as there was a stretch where he must've been the most avoided fighter at heavyweight. Him and his team went down the IBF top 15 and IIRC nobody wanted the fight, guys like Parker and Bakole are the first names that immediately come to mind as having avoided him. Because of hindsight people are gonna discount this but it's undeniable that for whatever reason nobody really wanted to take him on. Then he got the Zhang fight which was bad timing for him since at the time nobody knew how good Zhang was and so Hrgovic going life and death with him halted his hype train and as is usual when a guy is on the better end of a controversial decision he started to become a disliked figure in the division. After Zhang demolished Joyce twice Hrgovic started getting some respect back but then had some bleh performances that turned people against him again.
He looked no different to me than he did in the Zhang fight. The fact that Zhang looked fresher at the end of the fight told me A LOT. Zhang is NEVER the fresher fighter past 8 rounds lol
I fear that all three Rio de Janeiro 2016 medalists (Yoka, Joyce, Hrgovic) will end up being disappointments.
Apparently, he had some kind of virus and didn't train for 5 days, so that exhausted him, but I think that was some kind of excuse...
I dunno, I have always suspected his stamina wasn't great. I still recall his fight in the amateurs when he gassed so badly against Joyce in a 5 round fight he was basically gassed from rd 3 onwards. Yes he's gone late in fights before but that's when he has dictated the pace and never been forced to fight at another fighters pace and be put in that red zone again and again. That's when a fighters conditioning is properly tested when your put in that lactate threshold zone and if you can sustain it, that's the difference between good and bad stamina and also the difference between stamina and endurance. He has the endurance to go 12 rounds but not the stamina to do 12 rounds at a higher pace. Much like how even obese people can run a marathon or even an ultra marathon because they have the endurance which is more easily attained through working comfortably at zone 2 or 3 heart rate zones, but they can't run a sub 4 hour marathon because that takes stamina which is much harder to gain as that means working at zone 4 and 5 meaning up to 90% of max heart rate. That kind of training hurts and many people don't have the will to do this type of hard training consistently. Dychko had a similar issue in the amateurs which is why he will never succeed as a pro. Hrgovic may have the same problem but to a lessor degree. But it's something he can work on. It takes time to build that kind of stamina and a lot of will to do that kind of training when you are basically pushing yourself hard for sustained periods of time.
One of the most overrated fighters on the forum. Hope he retires because it makes me sick. Dubois you're a legend for beating this overrated wanker.
