Anyone else feel Hrgovic beat Zhang ?

I have watched it twice. On the night and once again after. In the pub I thought it was a total robbery. On second view, I think he still won but not by a massively wide margin.

Who cares if he faded down the stretch. I still think Hrgovic did very little. He also dropped him and had him badly hurt.

That said, with the hands he put on Joyce at the weekend I probably didn’t give Hrgovic the credit he deserved. I just thought Zhang was fun to watch. Didn’t realise he hit as hard as he did. Hopefully he gets a title shot. Not saying he would win but he definitely deserves it.

 

This is how I scored it live, haven’t rewatched but recall Hrgovic looking out on his feet in those middle rounds, I was actually worried something seriously bad was going to happen to him. Would like to see the rematch with Hrgovic head screwed on more post his dad’s death, but would prefer to see Zhang get a big fight in China/Macau to grow the sport.

 

To the OP, well everyone.

It was a close, competitive fight. A draw wouldn't have been bad. But if anyone thinks that was an awful decision, they haven't seen much boxing. For many so much is perception. Many thought Filip would win more handily. So when he didn't it lowered many fans rating of Filip. ZZ stopping Joyce makes Filip's effort and struggles vs. ZZ look better. That doesn't necessarily imply that Hrgovic is some "world" beater. It just raises his stock some.

Let's not forget, before Joyce-Zhang, Joe was getting far more praise 'round here than Filip ever has.

 

Hrgovic landed 54-60 more punches, which is not an insignificant amount, so if you are a punch count guy, it is plausible that he won.

If you are an effective aggression/clean,hard punching guy, Zhang won.

It is notable that 70% felt Zhang won, but the judges saw it as they saw it, and it was plausible, so I guess he won.

 

Zhang edged it for me. Hrgovic was a massive disappointment in this fight

 

Chinese has bigger name and is Chinese, if a billion people tell a lie - that lie becomes a truth. Same as Joe Joyce and british public.

 

Barely won, all fault to Zhang for gassing out easily.

 

But won, and then called out Zhang for rematch, the ball is is chinese territory now. Will he accept?

 

I had it Zhang winning after a close fight. Hrgovic became alive in the second half and has an iron chin for sure so I had no problem with him getting the nod and wouldn’t call it a robbery even though I felt Zhang did more damage. When somebody is not dominating throughout the fight, I tend to go with who I think landed the more significant punches and that was definitely Zhang for me.

 

Just because you make someone look worse than they were expected to look doesn't mean you win the fight. I don't know if that's exactly what you're saying, so apologies if it isn't, but I do think a lot of the perception of people thinking Zhang was robbed is due to how poor Hrgovic looked relative to how great he was supposed to look going into the fight. Yes Hrgovic looked bad at times, and disinterested at others, but he was also pretty consistently strafing Zhang with sharp combinations and outboxing him those times Zhang wasn't launching one of his cannonball assaults. It was a fight where one guy was doing all the damage and eye-catching work infrequently, versus a guy doing solid but not spectacular work but doing it across more rounds.

 

Hrgovic looked like he almost didn't want to be there! I have Zhang as edging the win.

 

Round 1: Zhang 10-8
Round 2: Hrgovic 10-9
Round 3: Zhang 10-9
Round 4: Zhang 10-9
Round 5: Zhang 10-9
Round 6: Zhang 10-9
Round 7: Hrgovic 10-9
Round 8: Hrgovic 10-9
Round 9: Zhang 10-9
Round 10: Hrgovic 10-9
Round 11: Hrgovic 10-9
Round 12: Hrgovic 10-9

114-113 Zhang
My scorecard was the exact same. Can also see 114-113 Hrgovic. If I remember correctly the knockdown might not have been legit.

 

Hrgovic clearly won. The scorecards were fine.

- the commentary was very pro-Zhang and misleading
- the first round knockdown wasn't a knockdown - Hrgovic was winning the round
- Hrgovic's knockdown of Zhang later in the fight should have been counted
- the ref should have been wiping the floor between rounds, instead of giving the gassed Zhang a rest

Zhang had one very dominant round 6, but to his credit Hrgovic although badly hurt did not go down. After that for the last 6 rounds, Zhang was tired and threw few punches, while being hammered by Hrgovic.

 

Hrgovic-Zhang:
R1: 8-10
R2: 10-9
R3: 9-10
R4: 9-10
R5: 10-9
R6: 9-10
R7: 10-9
R8: 10-9
R9: 9-10
R10: 10-9
R11: 10-9
R12: 10-9
Result: 114-113 which means I give Hrgovic 7 rounds, but because of the knockdown, which I consider legit, just wasn't something serious, it's even closer.

 

Zhang was constantly hurting him. He got robbed