BoxRec

candyslim wrote: ↑17 Feb 2021, 15:52 I think Ortiz would be food for Hrgovic at this stage. Bakole would be competitive but I'd expect Hrgovic to have too much ability for him. Hunter could match him for ability but the physical advantages are with the Croat and I'd expect him to impose those advantages on Hunter in a way that Bakole was unable to.

I do rate Hrgovic highly but I might struggle to justify my faith based on recent evidence. This is how I see him in fights against my top 10 even though he is not yet deserving of a place in it:

(10) Joyce: was only one of four men to beat Hrgovic in a 30 fight career in WSB. and that was by split decision when Filip was only 20 or 21. It would be highly competitive and I couldn't pick a winner with any confidence.
(9) Povetkin: Sasha is always dangerous, ask Dillian, but I'd pick Hrg over an aging Povetkin with much more confidence than I had in picking Whyte.
(8)Hunter: A good fight but Hrgovic is as good as Hunter and considerably bigger.
(7)Parker: Hrg beat Parker as an amateur when both lacked experience and that probably means little now. It's a pick 'em now I reckon.
(6)Usyk: Now this I'd pay to see. Hrg has skills and physical advantages. I'm not sure that would be enough. The winner is whoever shows most improvement from last time out.
(5)Whyte: Another difficult one to predict but if Hrg is as easy for Whyte to hit as Molina found him, then Hrg's chin will be tested like never before.
(4)Ruiz: Could be a real threat if he were in the same shape mentally and physically as he was for Joshua at the MSG. That's quite a caveat though. I'd fancy Hrg to box the ears off the re-match version of Ruiz.
(3)Wilder : Hrgovic is a much more complete fighter but he'd need to treat Wilder with utmost respect. If he trusts his chin to take the big right hand he could be in big trouble, but if he is wary and sticks to his boxing, he has a good chance of winning.
(2)Joshua: Hrg is a big risk for AJ, He has skills. He has power. He doesn't have the same air of vulnerability. I don't think there are more than a handful of fighters, maybe only two who pose a greater threat to Joshua than this guy.
(1)Fury: Hrg is I believe a complete fighter who has few weaknesses which gives him a better chance than most of beating Fury, but ultimately Fury is too big and too mobile.

So are there any fighters who haven't earned a top ten ranking that I think pose a greater threat to Hrg than those who have? In short, yes: Tony Yoka beat him twice, lost once, as an amateur in close fights. I think it's reasonable to expect a fight between them as pros to be equally competitive.
He also split three close fights with the sawed-off Romanian Mihai Nistor who recently turned pro. I'm thinking not so much Nistor but another ferocious short-arse who could make life difficult for Hrg is Oscar Rivas. I'll leave it there while hopefully there is still someone who got this far.

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑23 Feb 2021, 16:30 hrg vs hunter would be a very good matchup with some signifiance for a title shot

so count on hrg fighting franz rill or something

candyslim wrote: ↑23 Feb 2021, 18:16 Hunter v Martin would have been interesting too. I'd expect Hunter to win as he's a much better boxer but Martin's physical advantages would make Hunter work for the win.

candyslim wrote: ↑24 Feb 2021, 15:46 I'm not going to argue with that but I think there is a tendency to write off Martin as a joke since he was crushed by Joshua. He got caught by a perfect right counter, bang on the button, from someone who can box and really punch. That could have been Wilder lying at Joshua's feer wondering WTF had just happened, but we'll never know because Martin fought him and Wilder never did.

Also he was mocked for the way he won the IBF title. OK it wasn't the most convincing victory but it wasn't Martin's fault that Glazkov's knee gave out. Martin isn't top ten but he's not as poor as he's painted.

candyslim wrote: ↑24 Feb 2021, 15:46 I'm not going to argue with that but I think there is a tendency to write off Martin as a joke since he was crushed by Joshua. He got caught by a perfect right counter, bang on the button, from someone who can box and really punch. That could have been Wilder lying at Joshua's feer wondering WTF had just happened, but we'll never know because Martin fought him and Wilder never did.

Also he was mocked for the way he won the IBF title. OK it wasn't the most convincing victory but it wasn't Martin's fault that Glazkov's knee gave out. Martin isn't top ten but he's not as poor as he's painted.