Filip Hrgovic Climbing the Ranks
On the under-card of the massive Andy Ruiz Jr v Anthony Joshua rematch, hard-hitting Croatian heavyweight Filip Hrgovic (9-0, 7 KO’s) will be gunning for his third marquee scalp.
In route to this big stage opportunity, Hrgovic has successfully bested Amir Mansour and Kevin “Kingpin” Johnson. When Hrgovic does step into the ring on December 7, he will face the challenge of native Texan Eric “Drummer Boy” Molina (27-5, 19 KO’s).
THE NEXT AT BAT
Hrgovic realizes that Molina will bring with him a wealth of experience, having already fought with such recognizable names as Chris Arreola, Tomasz Adamek, Dominic Breazeale, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder. Due to those notable prizefights, Hrgovic views Molina as being his toughest opponent to date.
Even with this being the case though, the Croatian wholeheartedly believes that he’ll successfully topple the Drummer Boy in efficient fashion. Molina is coming off a successful unanimous decision win over Nick “2 Guns” Guivas (14-10-3, 9 KO’s) back in February.
However, the bout with the second tier Guivas snapped a 15-month period of inactivity for Molina. Only time will tell if there is any residual ring rust that the Texan still needs to shake off. Whether he is in peak form or not, Hrgovic is coming to place another L on Molina’s professional ledger.
“I feel very good. I had a very good camp. 12 weeks of camp in Miami with Pedro Diaz. I train like never before and I feel very good. This is the biggest fight of my career so far and I feel very good. I am looking forward to Saturday night…
“I’m preparing for the best version of Molina and I am expecting a hard fight for me. It’s only my tenth fight and he has almost forty fights.
“He is very experienced, he challenged for a world title two times and I’m expecting hard fight and best version of Molina.”
THINKING TITLE SHOT
While he is not overlooking the Drummer boy, Hrgovic definitely is setting his sights on getting his hands on a world title.
On the one hand, the Croatian has full confidence in his current skill level and the type of damage that he can do. On the other hand, Hrgovic realizes that he would be doing himself a great service by taking on fighters just under the championship level.
“I’m 100% focused on my job. I had a good and long amateur career and I think I can compete with everyone in the world.
“If I put forth my good performance I think I can beat everyone in the world…I feel ready for everyone in the division, I spar with a lot of champions that are the best in the world and I know that I can compete with everyone.”
When asked by IFL TV who he thinks would make for good opposition, the up and coming heavyweight was quick to supply a number of ambitious names. Provided that Hrgovic penned bouts with any of these men, and won in convincing fashion, it would be hard to argue that he is not ready for the next level of heavyweight competition.
However, before Hrgovic and his team run too wild with imagined future fights, they must first get past Eric Molina. With only nine professional fights to his name, despite his grand potential, he still has a lot to prove. And the next show-and-tell lesson is approaching with extreme speed!
3kingsboxing will continue to cover this potential milestone bout in Hrgovic’s career.
“I think I need a few more big fights with guys like Molina. Like maybe Dereck Chisora, Joseph Parker, Alexander Povetkin. All these big names who are, say, one level down from the Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz.
“I think I need a few more fights with these types of names and that will make me ready for the biggest name in the division.”
By: Bakari Simpson
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