August 21, 2022 - Filip Hrgović beats Zhilei Zhang after a tough 12 rounds and is the new mandatory challenger for the IBF world heavyweight title.
Filip Hrgović is the new mandatory challenger for the IBF heavyweight world champion belt. Filip won by a unanimous decision against Zhilei Zhang and thus achieved the biggest success of his career in the IBF world heavyweight title eliminator fight at The Jewel in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
This is only the third time that Hrgović did not end the fight with a knockout, and this was Zhang's first loss in his 26th professional appearance. So far, he had 24 wins and one draw with 19 knockouts.
The most difficult and important fight of Filip Hrgović's professional boxing career turned out to be just that. Chinese boxer Zhilei Zhang was just the kind of opponent needed in a fight that serves as the mandatory challenger for the world title, according to the IBF organization.
The challenge was thrown at the best Croatian heavyweight, who turned the fight around after losing halfway through.
Filip didn't really get off to a bad start. He controlled the first round well and seemed to find a rhythm with Zhang at the start, and was in control until the last half minute when Zhang got a left hook. Filip then fell to the floor for the first time in his career, which resulted in losing 10:8.
Filip returned in the second part in the best possible way, but in the third, he inexplicably fell and started having big problems. He stopped being active and let Zhang take the third and fourth rounds at the expense of several good shots.
However, Zhang's fatigue was unquestionable, and in the tenth round, Hrgović had the best boxing, was dominant, and seemed to be heading for victory. Zhang came back once again in the 11th round with several good shots.
The last round belonged entirely to Hrgović, who asked for a break, but Zhang, despite his increasingly obvious fatigue, held on until the end. In the end, they both raised their hands, believing they had done enough to win.
However, according to the judges, Hrgović was better. Two judges scored 115-112, which meant that the Croatian heavyweight took eight rounds, while according to one judge, he took seven and won the fight 114-113.
All in all, a hard-fought victory as it should be for the chance to become IBF world champion.
"This was a real war in the ring; this is for my father who died a few months ago; this is for you, Pero Hrgović, a special man! He and my beautiful wife gave me the energy to do this. Look at how beautiful she is; she's an angel, guys, be careful", said Hrgović and then added:
"It was a very tough fight, I was losing, but then in the second part, I gave it my all and hit him hard. For the last six rounds, he just stood there; I wasn't shaken at all by the knockdown. I have to be honest; he surprised me. He's better than I thought. It was a tough fight, but I think I won."
Hrgović will fight the winner of Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua for the world title.
To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.
