SOLE BELIEVER
HEIR UNAPPARENT By Michael Rosenthal Many heavyweights have been deemed the next great thing, only to stumble and never fully recover. Gerry Cooney (28-3, 24 KOs) – The 6-foot- 6 New Yorker became a sensation with a string of knockouts against good opposition, but he was beaten up and stopped by Larry Holmes in the 13th round in 1982. He never regained his momentum. Greg Page (58-17-1, 48 KOs) – As a gifted, athletic boxer with power (from Louisville, no less), Page was considered by some to be the next Muhammad Ali. Instead, mixed results in a weak era left him largely forgettable. Michael Grant (48-7, 36 KOs) – The 6-foot-7 all-around athlete built an impressive record to start his career – and received immense hype – in spite of a late start, but Lennox Lewis exposed his limitations with a second- round KO. David Price (25-7, 20 KOs) – The 6-foot-8 Olympic bronze medalist used a string of dominating performances to build a massive following in the U.K., but a weak chin, among other deficiencies, prevented him from becoming an elite heavyweight. Jared Anderson (18-1, 15 KOs) – Big, strong and athletic, Anderson seemed to have what it takes to be a star. Then he ran into hard-punching Martin Bakole, who put the then-24-year-old down three times, stopped him in five and put greatness on hold.
which means acting like a middleweight.’ It meant doing the work, and he found the training methods fun. “That included 30,000 sit-ups in the first eight weeks. He is a throwback fighter. He will fight any of the others, and he wants to fight them all. He would have fit in the era of Ali, Foreman, Frazier. He’s that kind of heavyweight. He can really go on from here, too. “Against Itauma, they believed their hype. But Filip is a grown man, experienced. Now he wants the get- go for the [Daniel] Dubois rematch,” says Sanchez, referring to the only loss on Hrgovic’s record. “He was injured with a cut going into that fight – and he wants to put the record straight. Big time. All I’m doing is refining what was brought to me – I’m just making him better, not changing him. But yes, a hundred percent, Filip is a ‘throwback fighter.’” Connolly concurs with those two words describing his client. “Filip really is a thoroughbred throwback fighter. Yet so is Abel as a trainer, a man versed in old-school methods. And they fit together like a glove. I truly believe Filip can go on to dominate in the heavyweight division, and we have
a great opportunity to defend the belt and have thrilling unification fights with the other champions. And I want to re- inforce this: We were concerned about him taking this fight with Itauma, but Filip was convinced from day one that he would win it.” We have to rewind now and return to young Filip, who admits he was an overweight kid. Let’s be honest, then: He hasn’t done too badly for a kid who was mockingly called “Fatty” growing up. “I tried boxing, but I was not a street kid. I just took to it. There is no history of boxing in my family,” Hrgovic told me. He played basketball as a child to lose weight and went on to win a national championship, but injuries forced him to give it up. He began boxing at 13, much to his mother’s dismay. “My amateur coach said I had ability in it straight away, and I found it an addictive thing to do. I enjoyed it. I was good at it, and the gym was the place I wanted to be, my happy place. [...] I loved the fact more and more that it all depended on what I did, and not on anyone else. That I only had myself to blame for success and failure. And I got better and better at it.” His career blossomed. He came out
on top in the European Championships in 2015 and captured a bronze medal one year later at the Olympics. David Haye sustained a cut while sparring with Hrgovic in 2013, causing the cancellation of his fight against Tyson Fury. He also sparred with Kubrat Pulev as the Bulgarian trained to fight Wladimir Klitschko in 2014. There is footage of his sparring wars with Haye and Deontay Wilder. There were always nods inside the sport from fighters talking about Hrgovic. Great guy. Tough man. Committed. World level. He has put in the hard yards. And the rewards for his dedication are now showing. When the belt was on the line against Itauma, Hrgovic was delighted. “It felt like the right time, and there were no nerves about it for the fight with Itauma. In fact, the pressure was on him,” he explains. “I want to fight [all the other titleholders] – every one of them. [Agit] Kabayel, [Murat] Gassiev, and yes, particularly Daniel Dubois, which I think is a very big fight for the sport.” The Croatian government is understandably enthusiastic about the modest fighter, and a fight in Zagreb is not out of the question. And despite
taking down a British star in waiting, he has arguably won the fans in the U.K. over too. There is definite reluctance in Hrgovic about being a public figure, and he has shown himself to be both extrovert and introvert. To be one or the other or a mixture of both is his choice. What really matters for anyone is that when it is your time in the spotlight, when the sun illuminates your frame, that you show up. And with Filip Hrgovic, there is absolutely not a shred of doubt that this is a man, and a warrior, who knows in his soul that he will always show up and never back down. Gareth A Davies is the boxing correspondent for The London Telegraph and TalkSPORT.
The more experienced Holmes was too much for Cooney.
RINGMAGAZINE.COM 35
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker