Newly minted world champion Filip Hrgovic continues to make the media rounds following his big win over Moses Itauma. The latest stop has been an interview with Ariel Helwani where he talks about overcoming obstacles and oversight to get where he’s currently at, and why he dismisses claims from those who don’t fully credit his performance in that fight. Here’s some of what he had to say below with the full interview in the link at the bottom.
Hrgovic on breaking through on the world stage
“I’ve always been on the [sidelines] because promoter wasn’t
really interested in promoting me right. I didn’t [get] too much credit because I come from small country and I always felt like promoter doesn’t really want me to become champion and doesn’t really want to promote me…because there’s no big audience, no big TV [networks].
“And for that fight with Moses, I was invited there as an opponent. Everybody thought he was going to smash me in a few rounds and I gonna be just his next victim and he gonna become next superstar. But things changed in the ring, I beat him, and finally I got the attention that I wanted and I needed in showing my character and full potential.”
On those who only credit his win as a result of Itauma gassing out
“Look, I won Olympic medal, I was European champion, I was world champion. I beat Zhang, I beat Joyce, I beat Itauma. Everyone one of them gassed out. ‘I beat them just because they gassed out.’ That’s a crap, man. He gassed out for a reason, because I was there, I was hitting him, my presence was there. Maybe some of the first rounds I didn’t throw so much but I was there, present. Presence also gets you tired. I was receiving all these shots and keep coming forward. I got into his head before the fight.
“So all of these things I did right. I did a lot of body work that people didn’t see during the whole fight. I was very light and fast on my feet, and in my opinion it was not so one-sided like people was telling. Yeah, he was winning the fight, he was beating me, but in my opinion until the 9th round when the fight was stopped, I think it was like 5-3 in rounds for him…
“He didn’t get tired because of nothing. He get tired because of my performance, because of shots he received, and because of my toughness. So I don’t agree with that bullshit that ‘he just got tired.’”
On how he’d rate Itauma relative to the other fighters he’s faced
“I think he’s very good, maybe the best who I fought — the quickest guy, the best IQ, timing and speed. But he’s not the biggest puncher. I received harder punches from Dubois, Adeleye, Zhang. So, he’s not the heaviest puncher but I think he’s the best I ever fought. I didn’t think it’s going to be so hard and I didn’t think he going to outbox me. I believe in myself that I’m going to be able to handle his speed and his skill from the beginning but that was not the case. The first few rounds he was outboxing me and he was too fast but he’s not the biggest puncher.”
