Hrgovic: I’m stamina and I can hit the body a lot, Usyk doesn’t like that

Mandatory challenger for IBF heavyweight title Filip Hrgovic believes he has the qualities to beat a WBO/WBA/IBF/IBO title holder Oleksandr Usyk.

“I think I have the best qualities to beat Usyk because I’m fast enough for a heavyweight, I can throw a lot of punches. With Zhang Zhilei, I threw about 800 punches on my bad night – that’s a lot for a heavyweight.”

“I have a good handle, he can’t knock me out. I am a powerful puncher. I think I have enough stamina to throw a lot of punches. You need to make Usyk back up and hit a lot, create problems for him. When Daniel Dubois gave vent to his hands, he gave Usyk problems. He’s a big guy who hit, threw right hands and left hooks. Usyk doesn’t like it.”

“Usyk needs to be hit on the body. I think I hit the body a lot. I am a good body puncher. I believe that tactics or a competent battle plan do not play a particularly important role here. You just have to go out and make him back off and make war on him because he can’t fight the big guys.”

Usyk’s promoter Oleksandr Krasyuk said that his team was ready to obey the IBF rules and fight against Hrgovic, however, he noted that the Croatian was not very popular, so he was not particularly interesting commercially and in the media as a rival to the Ukrainian champion.

Usyk re-defended his titles on August 26 in Wroclaw, knocking out British Daniel Dubois in the ninth round. The British boxer’s team filed an appeal against the result of this fight.

Hrgovic defeated Australian Demsey McKean in his last fight on a boxing evening in London at the O2 Arena. The Croatian retained his status as a mandatory contender for the IBF heavyweight title, which he won last August by defeating Zhang Zhilei.