Saturday Victory Zhang Zhilei (25-1-1, 20 KOs) over the favorite Joe Joyce became partly also a success for Philip Hrgovic (15-0, 12 KOs), because it was the Croatian who defeated the Chinese in the IBF heavyweight eliminator.
In August, in Saudi Arabia, Hrgovic defeated the Chinese by a decision of 114-113 and twice 115-112, thus securing the championship fight according to the International Boxing Federation.
“Honestly, I’m glad the fight went that way. Last year we had an equal fight, but I turned out to be a little better. In any case, this is evidenced by the fact that all three judges gave the victory to me, although I was then strongly criticized. However, Zhilei proved that he really needs to be reckoned with. He came to London, to the rival's territory, and simply destroyed Joyce. He boxed better, was stronger and dictated the conditions in this fight. I knew that Joyce and everyone else would have problems with Zhilei, and I was actually surprised that Joyce took such a risk with the status of a contender for the WBO title. And remember how they criticized me for the victory over Zhang, ”said the Croat, bronze medalist of the Olympic Games in Rio (2016) in heavyweight.
“Frank Warren said the most after my fight with Zhang. He said a lot of shitty things about me. I went to spar with Daniel Dubois and destroyed him, and now his other fighter, Joyce, lost to the one I beat when he criticized me like that. I wonder what he will say now? It was the worst evening of my career, but I still defeated Zhilei, who now came to London and defeated his fighter. They are all a fucking pile of crap,” added Hrgovic.
