For the last ten months, Filip Hrgović (17-1, 14 KOs) seemed destined to become a heavyweight champion until Daniel Dubois cut a knife through his master plan. The heavy-handed Brit won the interim IBF title with an upset eighth-round technical knockout of Filip Hrgović, who became the latest fighter to get stung by the complacency bug. The 32-year-old Hrgović entered the fight as a significant favorite to defeat and knock out Dubois.
But his focus for much of the past 19 months has been on undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk . The unbeaten Ukrainian was ordered to face Hrgović in November 2022, only for the IBF to rescind the order a few months later after much backlash. This provided a path for the undisputed bout between former champion Tyson Fury and Usyk to take place.
Nonetheless, Hrgović sucked it up and scored knockout victories over the likes of Demsey McKean and Mark De Mori. But last Saturday, the glass slipper broke for Hrgović, as Dubois proved that he is more than worthy of another opportunity to sip the championship wine. Dubois’ Resurgence Has Been Remarkable Dubois is seven bouts removed from an embarrassing loss to then-unbeaten title contender Joe Joyce .
At the first press conference for their November 2020 fight, Dubois took a jab at Joyce’s mother, who is 93 percent blind after Joyce’s manager, Sam Jones, taunted Dubois, alleging he pulled out of an amateur final. Dubois claimed he was ill. When the audience had the opportuni.