I'm a bit apprehensive about the Itauma vs. Hrgovic fight.

If Hrgovic beats Ituama he probably gets a title challenge off it. Theres no way he’s taking a dive. He’s showing up to win.

 

This should be a decent fight. Hrgovic has shown durability and strength, but he gets hit too easily, so he should stay defensively responsible instead of relying on his mandible. That is a bad strategy for the fight, his boxing career, and his life thereafter.

Itauma has looked good, but this is his first test in my opinion.

 

Hrgovic should have been waved off in that fight imo. There were a couple of moments he appeared to be completely out on his feet.

But I agree, I'd be surprised if he actually got knocked down because he seems to have incredible balance even when punch drunk.

 

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Thats the beauty of HW boxing.

 

Old Fish Eyes would soil himself.

 

If Hrgovic loses this fight, his entire career is lost. Too bad, I think he's worth more as a boxer. Until the next fight, a year later, it could be said that the past is prime. On the other hand, we will see how much Itauma is worth.

 

Nah, not with how hyped Itauma is.

Realistically Hrgovic is a gatekeeper - losing this won't change that, nor will it prevent him getting more decent fights.

Even in this thin moment for the division, he's not a championship level fighter.

This tells us far more about Itauma than about Hrgovic.

 

Yeah, he certainly can't afford to forget that his is in a fight and wander around the ring aimlessly like he usually does in big fights.

 

I think that's pretty harsh; I'd fancy Hrgovic to give Wardley an absolute nightmare, to be honest, and Wardley just lost his WBO title. If Dubois wasn't headbutting Hrgovic into oblivion and cutting his face to pieces, he could've easily taken him to the wire as well, I had him up at the time of the stoppage and he wasn't in trouble, really.

He's definitely not on that Usyk level, but I don't think that he's too far off Dubois/Wardley level, and they're probably both in the top 5. It's a terrible time for heavyweights; it has been for a long time, really, but I will still be very impressed if Itauma stops Hrgovic.

 

Thing is he lacks paths to victory even against these guys with limitations... He's lacking power and stoppage isn't on the cards, but then he's pretty poor on cards as well.

As you say, it's not the strongest heavyweight division and yet he's still clearly not in that top bracket... The only reason that gatekeeper tag feels wrong, IMO, is because he got overhyped like crazy for a while.

It's still a big step up for Itauma though - and if he does the job convincingly, it'll answer plenty of questions.

 

Hrgovic is a gatekeeper the way prime dillian whyte was a gatekeeper. He's standing at the gate to the top 3. Usually I associate a gatekeeper with someone outside the top 10.

Joshua and Fury who are still often regarded very highly would at this point in all likelihood lose to hrgovic. As would good fighters like ajagba, vianello, sanchez, gassiev etc. That's what I am seeing anyways.

And yes, the dubois loss was questionable. But the zhang win was more questionable. Winning often depends on marketability and what the promoters want, which is why we have almost exclusively native english speaking heavies as the most relevant fighters of the last 10 years. Usyk is just so good and had the luck of the cruiser tournament happening, that is how he became the exception from the rule.

 

Dillian Whyte had way more power (stopping a decent Chisora, for example, where Hrgovic probably wouldn't stop current shot Del) - and squeezing past Parker on cards is levels above a 50/50 against Zhang on cards, in terms of ability to win on points...
They're not really comparable - Whyte had his limitations, but he was more capable of winning than Hrgovic against good opponents.

Whyte was a fringe contender - Hrgovic isn't.

 

If Hrgovic is allowed to come in shape, it will be a good fight. I hope he is not getting paid to come out of shape.
It's something I've noticed in a lot of fights where the underdog is expected to lose. Instead of arriving in the best condition of their career, they usually come in looking poorly prepared. Even in the worst shape in their life. That always seems suspicious to me, because you'd expect an underdog to train harder than ever for the biggest opportunity of his career.