On August 29, Croatian heavyweight Filip Hrgovic will step into the ring at London’s O2 Arena as the underdog, but despite that he believes he has everything it takes to defeat the highly touted 21-year-old British prospect Moses Itauma in emphatic fashion.
In an interview with The Ring, Hrgovic stated that the bookmakers’ odds will mean nothing once he lands his right hand. Asked whether he believes he can end the fight as early as the opening round, the Zagreb giant replied without hesitation:
“Of course man, I can knock out a horse. He starts fast. I don’t start fast, I’m a slow starter but in this fight, I will. I must train to start fast, I want to get into a fight with him, don’t want to box too much. I want to get into a fight and see how tough he is.”
Hrgovic then emphasized that his road to the top of the heavyweight division has been far more difficult and full of obstacles:
“I had 10 times a harder path. I’m not saying that he’s not working hard. He’s training hard like every athlete in the world twice a day but it’s different when you’re coming from a small country. Nobody sees a big opportunity to make a lot of money off you. That makes a difference in promotion and managing. When he went from amateurs to professional, everything was on the table for him. He just needed to train and win, he did that and now he’s like a superstar in 14 fights.”
At present, bookmakers are offering odds of 5-to-1 on a Hrgovic victory, while Itauma is priced at just 1.14.