Usyk, Kabayel, Wardley and Itauma are overrated and Hrgovic is underrated - long analysis

The irony also of complaining about Dubois being a dirty fighter when Hrgovic loves a rabbit punch himself

 

No offense bro but I probably know a fair bit more about this topic than you. I watched Hrgovic's entire professional career closely and my knowledge isn't based only on the few bits and pieces of articles and short interviews on English, but on longer form interviews and even talk show appearances of Hrgovic in his native language.

The Zhang fight itself was an eliminator for the status of IBF mandatory challenger. Zhang was then ranked somewhere between 10th and 15th, he wasn't Hrgovic's first option, I don't recall all the names that were mentioned but he said the fight offers were sent to Ruiz, Parker, and Kabayel, and they all refused, even though they'd get the mandatory challenger status if they won.

Wikipedia has some info on it but not all of it.

Also in the beginning of 2024 when there was supposed to be the Fury Usyk fight earlier on, but it was canceled because Fury got cut, Hrgovic, as mandatory IBF challenger, was asked to step in instead of Fury against Usyk, and he immediately accepted. Unfortunately the fight didn't happen.

He also immediately accepted Joyce's invitation to fight as a replacement for Whyte even though it was on short notice. He then got an invitation to fight Wardley only 2 months after Joyce, despite suffering a cut from Joyce, and he accepted. Wardley changed his mind and opted for Huni instead lol.

Hrgovic isn't a one punch KO type of guy so he's not scary in that sense, but he is technically good (I'd say top 3 with Usyk and Fury), has granite chin, and high punch output. To fight him means you face an opponent it would be difficult to outbox, difficult to KO, and you would get a beating, even if you didn't get KO'd. Which is exactly what happens to his opponents. And I already mentioned his pedigree – Youth World Champ, WSB champ, Olympic medalist, and his only loss he was sick and was winning on points against Dubois, while Joshua was losing on points and got KO'd. And you have Fury and Wlad Klitschko themselves stating Hrgovic will be world champion.

To be fair, Hrgovic wasn't avoided ONLY because of his boxing, but also because there isn't that much money to be made from fighting him, because as I mentioned he is from a small country so doesn't have a big fanbase. Hrgovic Sanchez fight was supposed to happen but if I understood correctly they literally couldn't financially justify the fight so the Adeleye fight happened instead.

Apply a cost benefit analysis, fighting Hrgovic is a case of high cost (aka high chance of getting severely beaten and losing a fight) and low benefit (at least financially low, you definitely get status even for losing while doing good against Hrgovic and surviving him like Zhang did).

Hrgovic was present on the Kabayel vs Knyba event and in an interview there he called out Dubois, Kabayel, Wardley, and Fury. Of course Fury chose Makmudov instead. And Dubois chose Zhang. Kabayel could have fought Hrgovic multiple times and didn't, he rather fights Knyba lol.

So yeah while the causes of why exactly Hrgovic is avoided might be debatable and complex, the fact is, he is avoided, he ain't the one doing the avoiding, if that's what you think about Hrgovic you have a very false idea about who he is.

 

If it makes it harder and unfair it might be that a fighter is good enough to win if it weren't harder and unfair, but not good enough to win with the disadvantage, so it CAN be a barrier to success as the „harder and unfair“ part can be the difference between making it or not. And even if one makes it, the results would have been better if it weren't harder and unfair.

If a big country like America or better yet Britain had somebody like Hrgovic he would have surely held the world title at least once by now. F.e. Zhang is definitely a better name than Trevor Bryan, yet Hrgovic's win over Zhang wasn't a title fight, and Dubois got the WBA world title against Bryan.

 

Hrgovic never fought Kabayel and was never unconscious, what are you talking about?

As for him not noticing his opponent, are you talking about the end of round 9 against Zhang? Pay attention to the clock. The guys who ring the bell ****ed up, they prolonged the round, Hrgovic thought it's over.

I'll provide proof, Matchroom's official video :

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You can see it's 10 seconds left at 29:20. The bell rang 6 seconds too late at 29:36. And Hrgovic's assistant trainer in the corner was yelling in croatian „ten more seconds“ at 29:20/21, you can even hear it on the video, sounds like „iosh daeset sekundy“ so Hrgovic heard it and knew the round should have ended.

If you're mixing up Kabayel and Zhang, that is an accomplishment hahahahaha.

As for Adeleye, Hrgovic outpunched Adeleye in all rounds and then knocked him down in round 8 and understandably assumed Adeleye doesn't have it in him anymore so he lowered his defense. Yes, Hrgovic's assumption was a mistake. But Hrgovic endured the punches, RETURNED punches after Adeleye's flurry, and didn't make the same mistake again the last 2 rounds. Even the best of the best make mistakes. Lennox did a similar mistake against McCall and unlike Hrgovic, he lost because of it (though he did destroy McCall in the rematch).

I explained why I consider Hrgovic above Kabayel and Wardley. Especially Wardley.

Just yesterday I rewatched Wardley vs Adeleye, and though I think Wardley was generally slightly better, it was a much closer fight than Hrgovic Adeleye overall, Hrgovic won rounds much more convincingly. Yes Hrgovic doesn't possess the same punching power like Wardley but that was also a controversial stoppage. Wardley Adeleye was a close fight, Hrgovic schooled him.

Don't forget that Wardley was outboxed by Huni, Parker, and Clarke (in their first fight). And he could have fought Hrgovic but picked Huni instead lol.

 

Sorry bro I already made a lot of posts in the thread and debunked the points you made, some of which are outright lies, and I don't feel like repeating myself. You can read the thread if you want.

No offense but all your points really are genuinely horrible, you actually think Hrgovic wouldn't last 2-3 rounds against Usyk? Hrgovic? Against Usyk?

I would understand if you claimed Usyk would beat Hrgovic on points, I'd disagree but understand. But the idea that Usyk would stop Hrgovic within 2-3 rounds is just totally deranged.

And ok yeah I'll repeat myself again concerning Dubois and Joshua – sick Hrgovic was beating Dubois on points and only got stopped in 8th due to cuts, not punches. Sick Hrgovic performed better than Joshua, who was losing rounds against Dubois and got KO'd in 5th.

Hrgovic already fought Parker in amateurs, you can watch the fight on YT. He won fairly.

For Kabayel and Fury we don't have much means of comparison unfortunately.

But there I go repeating myself when I said I won't, because I can't stand misinfo...

 

Can you show an instance of what you consider a dirty, „rabbit punch“?

The only time I've seen Hrgovic hit the back of an opponents head is when his opponents present the back of the head. Example are De Mori and Molina fights.

People don't seem to understand that it's the boxers' responsibility to protect himself, aka to stay facing forward against his opponent at all times. If he turns his back because he's scared, or to try avoiding punches in the face by presenting the back of his head instead, that's a mistake, not a cheat code to being unpunchable because „haha I turned my face away so you can't reach it and you shouldn't be allowed to punch me in the back“.

Your opponent hits what you present, if you rather be hit in the face then present your face, if you rather be hit on the back of the head, then present that.

But you can't present something then complain when the opponent hits it.

I've never seen Hrgovic go out of his way to punch to the back of the head.

 

Thin decisions aside, not really...

It's more that they have to be willing to fight for less, and probably more often, to build enough profile to get into top fights.

Again - not necessarily saying it's right or should be this way - just that in reality it pretty much is.

I don't think so - he's just got limitations as a fighter that means he doesn't get there, even in the thin era we're in at the moment...

And yet Hrgovic did have his chance regardless, and couldn't beat Dubois.

 

It's not just about Hrgovic - it's the very concept of an avoided fighter fullstop.

I'm not denying that you're the superfan here - that's plain to see, and I suspect it influences your judgement a bit (which isn't unusual).

On some level you get it... You just can't quite take the emotion out of it, I think...

I don't think it's particularly about high risk to low reward - it's about moderate risk and low reward... Hrgovic isn't all that - he's decent, and you can't afford to have an off day, but he's not beating the top guys at their best, he's just not quite there.

But... The money's low to begin with because he doesn't draw - if he's then demanding a cut that makes it not make sense for opponents, it's just not going to happen even if there's very little risk.

There are things fighters can do in these situations to get things moving and make progress - whether you blame Hrgovic himself or mismanagement, the fact he's not done more is down to not being made attractive enough on the one hand and clearly being good but not great on the other.

 

Bubbles I don't say Hrgovic is the best only because I am Croat. F.e. Petar Milas is also a decent Croat boxer but I'd never say he's the best, or top 10 even, and I don't follow his career, and barely watched parts of his last few fights. I just genuinely believe Hrgovic is currently the best HW. It's possible I might be a bit biased but I present facts to back up my opinions. Your opinions rely on ignoring context and facts, f.e. you mention AGAIN that Dubois defeated Hrgovic, without mentioning context. It's essentially lying by omission. So going just by the facts presented and the way they are presented, you are biased, not me. I give a full accounting of the facts. You don't.

By your logic Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman are better than Lennox.
And Chris Byrd is better than Vitali.
And Lamon Brewster is better than Wlad.

 

Our opinions clearly differ then on "presenting"

The referee is also responsible for ensuring a fighter that constantly turns is spoken to and possibly penalised
If they are not doing so then you'd have to assume he doesn't blame the fighter getting tagged

Repeated mistakes is essentially cheating

As terrible as say Molina was, the rabbit punches were Blatently avoidable for me

I've always quite liked Hrgovic and you'll find me defending him at times on here but I won't go overboard

 

You say your possibly biased, then say bubbles is definitely biased and then finish up by saying your not biased

 

Lol I was too focussed, was obviously thinking of Zhang.

It's been a while since I've seen it, so interesting thing with the bell. Wonder if it was one of these typical times when they ring it early to end the round early to save the fighter under pressure from a few more punches.

So maybe I had this Moment in mind, but it certainly wasn't the only time, hrgovic was apathetic in this fight. And if you tell me which rounds you clearly score for hrgovic, I am willing to watch it back and see if my judgement was wrong back then. I saw zhang winning and getting robbed then.

(Hrgovic didn't completely convince against joyce either btw)

Hrgovic is obviously good and I hope he gives us a few great fights in the years to come. I have no problem with him becoming a world champion if he earns it. And being from croatia he will most certainly have to earn it. But at this point I see kabayel as more deserving (even if hrgovic could change that for example with a rematch against dubois) and also as stronger and more interesting to watch.

Wardley is just a fascinating story and exciting to watch. Something hrgovic can't compete with right now. But if they fought he could very well beat wardley. I would make dubois a heavy favorite against wardley. And hrgovic seems to be about the Level of dubois

 

Cheating? You are implying that multiple referees have some pro Hrgovic bias for some unclear reason and should have penalized him but didn't.

If turning and bending to change what parts of your body you present to the opponent is allowed, then it's only logical that punching the newly presented parts is allowed.

Otherwise I might as well join pro boxing too, simply bend my head and be like "you can't hit me now cause you'd be hitting me in the back".

Have you ever seen Hrgovic bend and turn like that, and if you did, did he complain about the punch like f.e. Molina and De Mori did?

The turning against Zhang mentioned before doesn't count for the reasons I explained and linked literal video proof, and even then Hrgovic didn't complain.

 

The only thing I'm implying is Hrgovic has a bit of a habit of hitting in the back of the head

Your analysis is quite over thought

That comment about you joining boxing etc

Absolutely you shouldn't be punching in the back of the head if avoidable

 

Going by official compubox punch stats, 3,6 and 9 are Zhang's, also 2 points on 1st because of the "knockdown", which it really wasn't but yeah it was scored. Definitely not enough for a win. I scored the rounds same as compubox but IMO Hrgovic landed a bit more. Zhang really does hold the double block well, but Hrgovic is also good at punching between it or around it.