In August, Filip Hrgovic takes on his fifth consecutive British heavyweight when he hopes to put an end to the meteoric rise of Moses Itauma. Ahead of the contest, his most recent opponent Dave Allen has assessed his punch power.
Back in June 2024, Hrgovic suffered the first defeat of his professional career when he was stopped by Daniel Dubois in a quest for the IBF Interim heavyweight title. That loss ultimately cost the Croatian a historic world title win, with Dubois upgraded to full heavyweight world champion soon afterwards.
However, despite that heartache, Hrgovic has picked himself up and dusted himself down, scoring a trifecta of wins over alternative British foes; Joe Joyce, David Adeleye and Allen, to force his way back into world title contention.
Yet, this summer, the Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medallist will enter as an underdog against young Itauma, who is being tipped for a long reign atop the division, as Hrgovic attempts to deal boxing’s hottest prospect a cruel taste of reality.
Following the announcement of the fight, Allen told his social media followers that, despite a third-round stoppage defeat to the Croatian last month, Johnny Fisher is a bigger puncher.
“Johnny Fisher hits harder, but he has not got the same output or experience.
“Johnny Fisher hits really hard and harder than Hrgovic but it’s just the experience, really, Hrgovic has got a lot of experience. He’s really good, Filip, to be fair to him, but Johnny Fisher hits harder.”
Fisher was unable to dispatch of Allen in two fights, where ‘The Romford Bull’ claimed a controversial split-decision in their first meeting, before Allen claimed vengeance with a fifth-round KO in the rematch.
Itauma-Hrgovic takes place at the O2 Arena on Saturday, August 29, with the victor hoping to fight for a world title in the outing that follows.