Why David Adeleye Could Exploit Filip Hrgovic’s Biggest Weakness

Allen said that Hrgovic is just "too big, too experienced, a little bit too good, and he's too tough and clever..." for Adeleye, the current British champion.

That's the view of many boxing insiders.

Hrgovic (18-1, 14 KOs) is as high as a 6-1 favorite according to some odds makers. Those odds also tell us that Adeleye (14-1, 13 KOs) is not currently as much of a name fighter in the UK as even David Allen.

Hrgovic can seem almost bored as his fights go on. He seemed just as uninterested in the press conference on Thursday ahead of his showdown with Adeleye.

Others see it differently. Famed boxing Trainer Teddy Atlas lauded Hrgovic's mental fortitude in the build-up to this one. Though overall, Teddy Atlas is predicting Adeleye to pull off the upset.

Training pedigree is also a factor here. Adam Booth has retooled Adeleye since his loss to Fabio Wardley. Hrgovic himself recently switched to Abel Sánchez, who was in his corner on April 5, 2025, when he secured a unanimous decision victory over Joe Joyce in Manchester.

That will help, but can't change the fact that Hrgovic is in some ways a prototypical Eastern European style fighter – very upright and a preference for straight punches. He is also not a massive puncher. Many commentators have pointed this out.

Hrgovic's Biggest Weakness

New trainers can help, but they can't fix scar tissue. Hrgovic's biggest weakness is his susceptibility to cuts, a fact that many previews of this fight have overlooked. Even at age 33, we have to imagine that at some level, there is still scar tissue from his most recent fight in April.

Hrgovic sustained an early cut against Joe Joyce in April. However, he rallied and outworked him down the stretch for a decision win.

In that fight, he was the younger fighter (Joe Joyce will turn 40 in September). In this fight, Hrgovic is the older fighter, giving up five years to Adeleye, who is 28 years old.

Let's not forget Daniel Dubois stopped Hrgovic due to cuts above both of Hrgovic's eyes in the eighth round. Hrgovic dismissed that loss, but reopening those could easily happen given Adeleye's tendency to clinch on the inside.

His inside fighting game has improved in his recent fights and Adeleye's team knows all this, which is one of the reasons they took the fight, and hope that their man is peaking at the right moment.