Hrgovic was a total disappointment.

Fitness levels, mostly. The excess rubber on some heavyweights is unnecessary and dangerous. How can a professional fighter be blowing out of his backside after 4 or 5 rounds when his punching output is very low. It's not even like they were putting maximum effort into the punches. If Zhang was in with someone fit who could punch properly, then he'd have been starched. The physical state of the two of them at the end was humiliating.

 

We'll see. I doubt Sleepy Joe Parker will be lethargic enough to be stopped, but even in the event that Joyce is able to pull that off, he will be pushing 40 by the time he gets his shot at world title and lets just say that regardless of which way Fury/Usyk goes the winner is a stylistic nightmare for the old and slow fighter.

 

Have you ever had the pleasure of seeing Tyson Furys love handles jiggling like two cats in a bag?
Truly disgusting.

 

Zhang is deceptively good. Not saying he is great but he has good counter punching is heavy handed and gets in hard sneaky shots on the inside.

 

Agreed, Usyk batters the heavybag. Fury likewise batters the heavybag - if he comes in heavy he walks him down in seek and destroy fashion, if he comes in light he puts a boxing clinic on, actually it would probably be a mix of the two regardless of the weight he comes in at.

 

A slow version of Golota.

 

The point is Hrgovic was so easy to hit, no head movement.

 

@Serge thought you said he had the best chin ever? Like Vitali level.

 

I never rated this guy or saw what others saw in him (Makhmudov's always been my pic of that crop). Saying that, yeah he looked poor and flawed but he also kind of impressed me with his fluid and fast combinations, so it was a weird mix of feeling justified in having never rated him as highly as others, and a sort of chagrin in having underrated his overall offensive abilities (though he mostly just kept hitting Zhang's gloves and never really adapted, so boo on the ring iq).

Put him in against Bakole and see how he does. If he's any good he'll beat Bakole without too much trouble. Otherwise he gets the much deserved Yoka treatment.

Oh, and for shame at anyone that thought he would ever beat Joyce.

 

Joyce is pretty much all intangibles. That and his huge mongo strength and Duracell bunny endurance.

Age is irrelevant here. Is Hrgovic suddenly going to learn a bunch of new skills between now and then that elevates him to the top of the division? No, he's exactly what you see before you now, and nothing is likely to change for the better. Skills? Some fast hands and flashy combos maybe, but his ring generalship sucks and his defence isn't much better.

 

We've seen what inactivity and too much sparring can do to good heavyweights like Helenius. Hrgovic is better than what he showed last night, and even that was a win over a top notch undefeated HW prospect. He's still one of the better hopefuls for after Fury and Usyk retire.

 

Think Hrgovic has peaked.

May be all downhill from here.

 

Dosh will still duck him for the old guard of Whyte Chisora.