Eddie Hearn Working to Have Usyk Meet Hrgovic in Croatia
While the boxing community still hopes to see the fight for undisputed between unified champion Oleksandr Usyk and WBC champion Tyson Fury, Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn is gearing up to host Usyk and mandatory challenger Filip “El Animal” Hrgovic (15-0, 12KO) in Croatia.
Hearn, on behalf of team Hrgovic, wasted no time requesting an immediate purse bid once the IBF mandated the fight with the unified champion. This did not sit well with fans, especially considering that Usyk can’t ask for an exception.
EDDIE HEARN WANTS TO MAKE THE FIGHT IN CROATIA
During an interview with Boxing Social, Hearn revealed they are gearing up to make the fight in Hrgovic’s backyard.
“There is a lot of interest from the government that Keller’s working on [and] we’re working on to bring that fight to Croatia. Obviously, there’s a lot of discussions going on about exemptions and undisputed fights, etc.”
“We are gearing up for Filip Hrgovic to fight for the world heavyweight title. We’d love to do it in his home country. It would be huge for the country . . . Filip is in a great position where he is mandatory for the world heavyweight title.”
HRGOVIC HAS WAITED A LONG TIME FOR A TITLE SHOT
It is unlikely that Hrgovic steps aside, considering he has been trying to get a mandatory fight since 2021. In his last outing, El Animal was heavily tested in the final eliminator by top contender Zhilei Zhang on August 20.
The Croatian was forced to dig deep in a seesaw, all-out war, winning via unanimous decision. Many boxing enthusiasts believe Zhang deserved the nod. Nonetheless, Hrgovic is moving on toward a fight for the world title.
By: Garrisson Bland
