Sport | Boxing Filip Hrgovic fights Daniel Dubois in a crucial heavyweight clash on Saturday night, with so much on the line. The bout forms part of the Queensbury vs Matchroom 5v5 card, with promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren each selecting five fighters to do battle and attempt to secure bragging rights in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A point will go to the winner of each fight, with two points if that victory comes by knockout.
A world-title shot is also within touching distance for these two fighters. IBF mandatory challenger Hrgovic has been made to wait for his opportunity but a win over Dubois appears to be the final obstacle, with Oleksandr Usyk set to be stripped of his belt due to facing Tyson Fury for a second time later in December. That would leave the IBF title vacant and the winner of this bout first in line to challenge for it, likely against Anthony Joshua later this year.
Hrgovic has fought just three times since the end of 2021, with his last bout a stoppage win over Mark de Mori inside a round. That took the 31-year-old’s record to 17-0 with 14 wins inside the distance, but he is perhaps fortunate to still be unbeaten after edging a controversial points decision against Zhilei Zhang in 2022. Dubois (20-2) stopped Jarrell Miller in the final ten seconds of their bout last December, in what was the 26-year-old’s first return to the ring since he was beaten by Usyk when challenging the for the Ukrainian’s world titles.
The Briton earned plenty of plaudits .