How would AJ vs Hrgovic go?

I think Hrgovic is a nightmare for AJ. A very good chin and he hits hard. Or, hard enough to deter AJ. I think AJ is a hell of a fighter, certainly better than the revisionist boxing historians have him, but styles make fights and I think the big Croat is all wrong for him

 

Hrgovic stops him

 

I have no idea how people can favor Hrgovic in this matchup. Hrgovic has mediocre power at best and awful stamina. He landed over and over on Zhang and Dubois to no effect. He'll probably do okay in the early rounds, but once he slows down AJ will rack up rounds and possible KO him late.

 

What's the point of this thread?
You already know how it goes. Everyone knows how it goes. You know exactly what the responses are gonna say.

Hrgovic by KO

 

A lot hinges on how much the Dubois loss took out of AJ

Assuming AJ’s punch resistance isn’t entirely gone then I slightly favour AJ, because Hrgovic hardly looked spectacular against an old shot Joyce.

 

I can envision Filip weathering the early storm while landing some shots of his own. Then getting a tired joshua late. Hrgovic does have a granite chin. He’s ****ing frustrating as hell to watch… but tough as nails.

 

In my opinion Joshua at this point in his career would lose against the best in the category, so also against Hrgovic. Against Dubois I saw a finished boxer and I think AJ will lose against Fury (I think that will be his next and probably last match in his career).

If instead we talk about the prime Joshua I think he would have beaten Hrgovic. The Croatian takes breaks during the matches and has been hit several times by boxers like Zhang and Joyce who are slower than AJ. Joshua clearly on points.

 

I'd still consider AJ slight favourite because he has the better stopping power and the Croatian gets hit a fair bit. But it might be a 50/50 right now. If Dubious really wrecked AJ mentally and CTE-wise then perhaps Croatian is favoured but it's impossible to tell until we see what AJ is like.

The fact it's hard to tell now means we might not see it. Hearn doesn't ideally want AJ in with a tough opponent who can absorb punishment from the biggest hitters.

Maybe if there's a belt on the line and Fury really isn't coming back they'd do it. I doubt it otherwise.

They fought Usyk because he was a cruiser with average power, they took Dubious because he was considered a glass cannon. It was never because they wanted difficult fights, they just misjudged.

 

Joshua should not be underestimated,
he managed to knock out Ngannou and lasted all 12 rounds against Franklin...

 

Joshua would still, rightly, be favoured.

It'd be Joshua's to lose - turning up planning on an all out slugfest would be stupid, but that's not entirely out of character (and it's happened before)... Otoh if he turned up to box, he'd be miles up on the cards by the time Hrgovic inevitably gassed and a KO then wouldn't be out of the question.

Hrgovic didn't beat shot Joyce comfortably enough to favour him with a shot fighter who was, at his best, a couple of levels above.

 

Bodybuilder gets flattened

 

I think AJ would control the fight enough - maybe lose a couple rounds but still get a late TKO over a gassed and tired Hrgovic.

Hrgovic is a decent fighter who is technically sound and has credibility but I think AJ has more about him and is more powerful and experienced in addition to probably having more to lose and will be a lot closer to his best mentally. Also, I'm not particularly convinced of Hrgovic's power either, he doesn't punch anywhere as hard as those who have knocked down AJ in Wlad, Ruiz, Dubois.

I don't think Hrgovic is stylistically as bad for AJ as Dubois and not as bad as people suggest it is.

 

I'm going for AJ here. Similar fighters, but Hrgovic is not very impressive. Static.

Good chin but AJ has comparable power to Dubois.

I'm for AJ to KO this fool in 6 rounds.

It's the fight to make really.

 

I tend to overrate Hrgović, but I think he would KO AJ. I think the latter is shot and I don't trust his chin.