BoxRec

Daniel Dubois Reported To Face Filip Hrgovic With Targeted Date And Location Revealed

Just when boxing fans think they know how they heavyweight picture will play out – the sport throws another surprise contest, as reports emerge that Daniel Dubois is poised to challenge Filip Hrgovic for his position as IBF mandatory challenger.

Many fans around the globe anticipated that Hrgovic’s position with the IBF would see Anthony Joshua seek him out, in order to eventually become a three-time world champion.

The belt is expected to be vacated by the winner in the aftermath of Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk and giving ‘AJ’ the chance to fight either Fury or Usyk for the undisputed title himself in 2025.

However, in an interview with W.A.W. Boxing, Hrgovic’s trainer Ronnie Shields says that Hrgovic-Dubois is expected to be on the upcoming Matchroom vs. Queensbury event on June 1 in Saudi Arabia, to fulfil the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol undercard.

“We have just found out that Hrgovic is going to fight on June 1st and it is supposed to be against Daniel Dubois.

“In Saudi [Arabia].”

Recent news suggests that an announcement for the five bouts between Eddie Hearn’s fighters and allegedly’s is imminent, with weights for each contest expected to be revealed in the coming days.

Yet, it appears as though the curtain may have been pulled on what would have been the biggest shock of the bill, especially with Hrgovic technically being a free agent.

If Hrgovic does face Dubois on June 1st, Joshua may target the winner before the end of the year. The rematch-clause in the Fury-Usyk contract could well mean Joshua is forced to wait until 2025 for his shot at the title.

FILIP HRGOVIC TO FIGHT ON MATCHROOM VS QUEENSBURY CARD, ‘POSSIBLY AGAINST DANIEL DUBOIS’

The trainer of Filip Hrgovic, Ronnie Shields, has said the heavyweight contender will be fighting in Saudi Arabia on June 1 and could face Daniel Dubois, leading to assumptions that this will be one of the fights on the Matchroom Boxing vs Queensbury Promotions event.

An event is proposed for June 1 in Riyadh that would see Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn and Queensbury’s allegedly put five of their fighters up against each other. Each promoter will select two weight classes each, while Turki AlShaikh – the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and the man behind all the boxing in Riyadh – will pick the other.

Crucially, the fights were meant to be kept a secret until being revealed at a London press conference, according to Hearn.

Hrgovic is promoted by Matchroom, while Dubois is represented by Queensbury. When combined with the date mentioned by Shields, it adds up that this will be one of the fights on the five-vs-five event.

Hrgovic Mandatory For IBF Title

“We have just found out that Hrgovic is going to fight on June 1 and it is supposed to be against Daniel Dubois,” Shields told W.A.W Boxing. “In Saudi [Arabia].”

Should Shields be proved right, it will be interesting to see whether Hrgovic’s fight with Dubois is for the IBF world title. The IBF is expected to make its heavyweight belt vacant after Oleksandr Usyk, who also holds the WBA and WBO titles, puts it on the line against WBC champion Tyson Fury for the undisputed championship on May 18 – also in Riyadh.

Usyk will be unable to defend the IBF title against mandatory challenger Hrgovic because the Ukrainian is contracted to a rematch with Fury, which is expected to be held in Octover.

If or when the IBF vacates the title that happens, Hrgovic had been expected to fight former two-time heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua for the belt. However, Joshua will not be part of the June 1 bill, which is expected be headlined by the undisputed light-heavyweight title fight between unified champion Artur Beterbiev and WBA title holder Dimitry Bivol.

Joshua To Face Winner Of Hrgovic Vs Dubois?

That could open the door for Joshua, who knocked out MMA star Francis Ngannou in his most recent fight, to face the winner of Hrgovic vs Dubois.

Hrgovic (17-0-0 14 KO) is unbeaten in his pro career but the Croatian is yet to be truly tested. The best scalp on his record so far is former WBO interim champion Zhilei Zhang, whom he beat on points in August 2022. His most recent fight was an embarrassingly easy first-round win over Mark De Mori – a fighter who taught himself how to box on YouTube – on the Joshua vs Otto Wallin undercard in December.

Dubois (20-2-0 19 KO), meanwhile, has lost twice but the Briton has mixed in far better company. He has fought for a world title once, getting stopped by unified champion Usyk in the ninth round of their August 2023 bout. There was, however, plenty of controversy as Dubois knocked Usyk down but it was deemed a low blow.

Dubois’s last fight also took place on the Joshua vs Wallin undercard, when he stopped Jarrell Miller in the 10th and final round of a thrilling bout.

Good fight this, make or break for Dubois, if he wins, he's right in the mix, and will be considered genuinely world class. if he loses, he's probably done at top level, though he's still young enough to come again - not sure he's got the capacity to improve too much though, doesn't have much ring IQ.

odd matchup

why though?

nobody wants to see dubois v usyk 2

nobody

I expect Hirgovic to be too much for DD - better boxing skills as well as some power and he holds a shot well which he showed vs Zangh .
points win for PH or poss another late collapse for dubs like he did Vs Usyk .

As much as I want him to do well, I think DDD wins a very close fight with Hrgovic

Wilder v Zhang added?

Eddie Hearn said yesterday that this ain't happening on the 5v5.

jwfg wrote: ↑22 Mar 2024, 15:55 Eddie Hearn said yesterday that this ain't happening on the 5v5.

saw that. Still couldn't work out if Eddie has a piece of Hrg tho, do you know?

SeanBrennan wrote: ↑22 Mar 2024, 17:18

jwfg wrote: ↑22 Mar 2024, 15:55 Eddie Hearn said yesterday that this ain't happening on the 5v5.

saw that. Still couldn't work out if Eddie has a piece of Hrg tho, do you know?

I'm sure Eddie's still working with Hrg. Someone on here said otherwise, but me thinks they's wrong.

jwfg wrote: ↑22 Mar 2024, 17:24

SeanBrennan wrote: ↑22 Mar 2024, 17:18

jwfg wrote: ↑22 Mar 2024, 15:55 Eddie Hearn said yesterday that this ain't happening on the 5v5.

saw that. Still couldn't work out if Eddie has a piece of Hrg tho, do you know?

I'm sure Eddie's still working with Hrg. Someone on here said otherwise, but me thinks they's wrong.

cheers jwfg

Deontay Wilder vs Zhilei Zhang leads Matchroom vs Queensberry 5 Vs 5 on June 1st

Daniel Dubois vs Filip Hrgovic, Raymond Ford vs Nick Ball, Hamzah Sheeraz vs Austin Williams, Craig Richards vs Willy Hutchinson round out the undercard

After officially announcing Dmitry Bivol vs Artur Beterbiev for the undipsuted light heavyweight title on June 1st and Riyadh, allegedly and Eddie Hearn took the stage with 10 masked pugilists to steadily reveal the lineup for their long-brewing 5 Vs 5 showdown.



First came Daniel Dubois (20-2, 19 KO), who battles Matchroom’s Filip Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KO) in the first of two heavyweight showdowns. There’s a real chance this could turn into a title bout before fight night; Hrgovic is the IBF mandatory challenger and Dubois is no. 4, so if the winner of Usyk vs Fury vacates to honor the rematch clause, there’s no reason not to sanction it.

Down at 126, Raymond Ford (15-0-1, 8 KO) makes the first defense of his newly acquired WBA title against Queensberry’s Nick Ball (19-0-1, 11 KO), whom Eddie Hearn inadvertently named early while hyping up Dubois vs Hrgovic. Ford, fresh off of shocking Otabek Kholmatov in the final seconds, was previously expected to vacate the belt and move to 130, but will instead give Ball another shot at the big time after falling agonizingly short against Rey Vargas.

At 160, Hamzah Sheeraz (19-0, 15 KO) carries the Queensberry flag against Austin “Ammo” Williams (16-0, 11 KO). Both enjoy top-five spots in multiple sanctioning bodies’ rankings and should make for a quality scrap.

15 pounds north, Matchroom calls upon Craig Richards (18-3-1, 11 KO) to fight Willy Hutchinson (17-1, 13 KO), breaking Scott’s three-for-three prediction streak. Richards is 2-2 in his last four, but gave solid accounts of himself against both Bivol and Joshua Buatsi, while the 25-year-old Hutchinson is 4-0 with four finishes since falling to Lennox Clarke in 2021.

As for the wildcard heavyweight pick, Zhang Zhilei (26-2-1, 21 KO) reps Queensberry against Deontay Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KO). Even with their recent defeats, I don’t need to sell you on this one; it might as well be a sanctioned pistol duel.

Rather than just do best of five, each fight gives the winning promoter two points for a finish or one point for a decision, with the captains (Sheeraz and Wilder) receiving double points.

Thanks for all the updates RKO really useful having it all on here.

Hrgovic is prone to losing interest & focus at times which is not recommended when Dubois' in the other corner, but I back Filip to beat Daniel...too skilled, experienced and hits hard enough to dent Dubois.

Gotta give DDD his due. He’ll fight anyone. The guys dodged by many.. kudos.

si7dog7 wrote: ↑21 Apr 2024, 09:56 Gotta give DDD his due. He’ll fight anyone. The guys dodged by many.. kudos.

Hrgovic just isn't a draw. The incentive to fight him hasn't been there until he gatekeeps a title shot.

si7dog7 wrote: ↑21 Apr 2024, 09:56 Gotta give DDD his due. He’ll fight anyone. The guys dodged by many.. kudos.

I agree, he has real cojones. I'm friends with him on FB and he lives the life 100% too. Fair play.

I like DDD is this one. Hrgovic is ok but is not a 'natural fighter'. Big, with some decent skills and reasonable power. He is decent, but not much more than that, imo.

Similar to Dubois but I think Dubois has an edge is speed and can also punch, so I fancy him to win but who knows...will be fun to find out.

if matchups like these keep on getting made, we'll get more surprises and possibly more good action fights.

Hrgovic, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllllllllllll day long.

jwfg wrote: ↑23 Apr 2024, 14:12 Hrgovic, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllllllllllll day long.

that is a lot of a's Jwfg I think Hrgovic should win but his fight vs Zhang makes me think there are flaws. Whether DDD can expose and capitalise them however, remains to be seen.

NazNaci1 wrote: ↑22 Apr 2024, 18:44 I like DDD is this one. Hrgovic is ok but is not a 'natural fighter'. Big, with some decent skills and reasonable power. He is decent, but not much more than that, imo.

Similar to Dubois but I think Dubois has an edge is speed and can also punch, so I fancy him to win but who knows...will be fun to find out.

Hrgovic has the edge on heart and durability

JamesPhilips wrote: ↑24 Apr 2024, 12:53

NazNaci1 wrote: ↑22 Apr 2024, 18:44 I like DDD is this one. Hrgovic is ok but is not a 'natural fighter'. Big, with some decent skills and reasonable power. He is decent, but not much more than that, imo.

Similar to Dubois but I think Dubois has an edge is speed and can also punch, so I fancy him to win but who knows...will be fun to find out.

Hrgovic has the edge on heart and durability

I never watched the fight v Zhang, did he fade in it at all? I know some people were saying Hrg should have lost, was that just outfought or did Hrg fade? I thought DDD showed durability vs Miller as he is so heavy weighing down on you

I had Hrgovic winning a close one against Zhang. The knockdown was nothing to get excited about, other than it counted on the cards.

Filip didn't excel against Zhang, but we now know how good Zhilei is ! Hrgovic looked uninterested & uncomfortable at times, but when he got his boxing together looked a class above Zhang IMO. He had Zhang blowing a number of times but just didn't, or couldn't, put his foot to the pedal.

THEBUTCH wrote: ↑24 Apr 2024, 14:51 I had Hrgovic winning a close one against Zhang. The knockdown was nothing to get excited about, other than it counted on the cards.

Filip didn't excel against Zhang, but we now know how good Zhilei is ! Hrgovic looked uninterested & uncomfortable at times, but when he got his boxing together looked a class above Zhang IMO. He had Zhang blowing a number of times but just didn't, or couldn't, put his foot to the pedal.

thanks Butch appreciate you sharing. I will make sure I give it a watch before this one. Hrg's win has aged particularly well hasn't it.