Filip Hrgovic vs Zhilei Zhang
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Filip Hrgovic 243 lbs beat Zhilei Zhang 277 lbs by UD in round 12 of 12
- Date: 2022-08-20
- Location: Jeddah Superdome, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- Referee: Malik Waleed
- Judge: Pawel Kardyni 114-113
- Judge: Leszek Jankowiak 115-112
- Judge: Robin Taylor 115-112
- IBF World Heavyweight Title Eliminator
Notes
- The bout was expected to take place on May 7, 2022, on the Canelo Álvarez vs. Dmitry Bivol undercard, as the co-feature to the main event. Hrgović withdrew from the bout on May 2, following the death of his father.
- On January 3, 2022, the IBF sent an invitation to Hrgović and Luis Ortiz to enter talks for a final title eliminator. Hrgović immediately accepted the offer, with his promoters stating: "Challenge accepted by Filip Hrgovic, [Three] days and counting for Luis Ortiz to accept". Ortiz refused, citing inability to compete due to injury.
- IBF then invited the next highest ranked heavyweight contender, Joseph Parker, to enter talks for a title eliminator bout. Parker refused to enter talks as well, due to recovering from injuries. Due to Parker refusing to go into negotiations, he was removed from the IBF rankings for six months.
- On January 10, the same invitation was extended to Tony Yoka. Yoka accepted the offer on January 13. The fight was supposed to be a rematch of their 2016 Summer Olympics semi-final bout, which Yoka narrowly won on points. IBF later ruled Yoka ineligible to enter an agreement with any opponent other than Martin Bakole, as the two had already signed contracts to face each other.
- On January 26, both Andy Ruiz Jr. and Murat Gassiev received invitations to enter into negotiations with Hrgović, which they refused five days later, citing lingering injuries as the reason for refusal.
- On February 7, it was revealed that the #13 ranked Chinese heavyweight Zhilei Zhang had accepted the invitation to enter into negotiations with Hrgović.