Filip Hrgovic Vows To Retire From Boxing If He Loses To Daniel Dubois

Hrgovic Confident Of Victory

Hrgovic and Dubois have shared a gym in the past, with ‘Dynamite’ recently admitting that the Croatian had dropped him several times in sparring.

“I don’t know why he mentioned that sparring, because that sparring was not so good for him. He should be quiet about that,” Hrgovic told iFL TV. “He said he changed – of course he changed. He was young at that time of sparring, but I was young as well.

“He has definitely improved, but you can never change your character, you can never change who you are as a man. I’m confident I will repeat that sparring [result] on June 1.”

So confident is Hrgovic that he has promised to hang up his gloves if he doesn’t beat Dubois.

“Of course [I would retire if I lose]. How can I live with that? I think I’m the best. I worked hard 18 years in this sport like a maniac. So if I lose to Dubois, f*** that s*** man – obviously I’m not as good as I think I am. So I would retire.”

Fight With Dubois For World Title?

It has been understood that Hrgovic will get his opportunity to fight for the IBF world title following the May 18 bout between Fury and Usyk when the governing body should request for the belt to be vacated.

With Fury and Usyk contracted to a rematch, expected to take place in October, the holder of the IBF belt will be unable to face his mandatory challenger, thus leading to it being vacated.

That said, there is yet to be an official announcement from the IBF, nor any clarification as to whether Hrgovic will remain mandatory if he loses to Dubois. The IBF could even request for the belt to be vacated ahead of Hrgovic’s fight with Dubois, making their bout a world title contest.

“My understanding is that I’m the mandatory challenger. Fury and Usyk fight on May 18 – after that fight, the winner should vacate the title. So me and Dubois should fight for the IBF belt,” the 31-year-old said, who hinted that he has been lined up as a last-minute replacement should Fury pull out of his fight with Usyk.

“But in boxing, you never know – maybe May 18 doesn’t happen again [after the two previous postponements], and I need to jump in and smash Usyk. They told me I should be ready to jump in if something happens.”