ZAGREB, 30 May 2022 - Croatian boxer Luka Plantić, a member of the Salona Boxing Club, ended up winning the bronze medal at the European Boxing Championships in Yerevan, Armenia after losing in the semi-final match. 

The 25-year-old Plantić lost the semi-final match to Russian athlete Artem Ageev who competed for Serbia. Ageev is one of seven Russians wearing Serbia's colours at the championships in Yerevan. He won the first medal for Serbia's boxing team back in 1991.

The bronze medal is Plantić's best career success after winning the junior European championships and second place in the junior world championships.

A total of 219 boxers from 39 countries competed in Yerevan and medals were won by boxers from 20 countries.

Croatia had five competitors at the championships - Luka Plantić, Petar Cetinić, Matteo Komadina, Marko Zeljko and Damir Plantić.

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November 22, 2020 - Croatian heavyweight boxer Alen Babic defeated Briton Tom Little on Saturday. The Croatian recorded his sixth victory in his sixth professional appearance by knocking out an opponent in the 3rd round.

Babic reached the third round for the first time in his career after he knocked out all previous rivals in the second at the latest. Little was his biggest exam so far in his career.

Babic started aggressively from the beginning and demanded a close clash with the British boxer. Little ran around the ring at the start to avoid Babic, but when his legs slowed down in the second, especially the third round, he became an easy target.

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Babic sent Little to the floor on two occasions after a minute of fighting in the third round and the referee stopped the fight.

Although he promised a knockout in the first round, Babic should be satisfied with the victory. 

"As I said. I keep repeating myself. My 'Savage' army, I never lied to you. If I said I would do something then I will do it. Yes, I said he would fall in the first, it was supposed to be the first, but he was well prepared and could take a hit. He’s a good fighter, but not close to my level."

The best Croatian heavyweight Filip Hrgovic also knocked out Little, but Babic was quicker, needing one round less.

"I had fuel for 20 rounds like this. This was not difficult for me. Hrgovic bet against me and I am glad he lost his money. He's my compatriot, and he's betting on Tom Little. It shows you that you have no idea about boxing. He doesn’t know the history of boxing, he’s very good technically, but with me in the ring that’s not enough. The ring is life, and I risk my life for you in the ring. He won’t do it because he’s selfish. I want him as soon as the fans come back."

Babic, whose professional ratio is a perfect 6-0, called Hrgovic again.

"Give me a strong kicker, a knockout, then you will see 'sweet science'. I have an Olympic coach and two Olympians in the gym. We spar every day, and it's technical. But people want to see this. Give me something and I will prove myself. I’m small, I don’t look like Joshua, but I know how to hit, I’m hard and I have a firm head. I want to fight Hrgovic in front of the fans. I want everyone to see him fall because I think he’s a fake. He fights with buckets, with 50-year-olds. But everything is fine. I love Filip Hrgovic," Babic concluded.

Source: HRT

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October 3, 2020 - Croatian boxer Filip Hrgovic will fight Rydell Booker, a 39-year-old American and former sparring partner trying to revive his career after his release from prison, on November 7 in Florida.

Index.hr reports that Hrgovic's promoters responded to messages from critics questioning whether the program they had designed for the Croatian champion made sense. After the match against Kartozia, a boxer who is not even among the 600 best in the world, Hrgovic answered that it is up to his promoters to organize the fights, and it is up to him to be ready for any fight.

And while Kartozia received a boxing ban of a few months, Hrgovic enters the ring again a little over a month after the knockout in Denmark. He has already left for America, where he will prepare for the fight against Booker.

The American has had 29 fights and won 26 times in his professional career. He lost three times, in 2004 to James Toney, in April 2019 to Jermaine Franklin, and recently against Bulgarian boxer Pulev.

Booker, who will turn 40 in February, was one of America’s most promising heavyweights at the turn of the century. Born in Detroit, Booker had 22 straight wins by mid-2004, winning an IBA title match against James Toney, who had earlier demolished Evander Holyfield. The winner would get a chance to box for the world title.

However, in parallel with his boxing career, Booker also built a criminal one. Five months before the fight with Toney, he was arrested along with three other men for possessing more than a pound of cocaine and was awaiting trial.

"I had to accept that fight even though I wasn't ready for it. I needed money for expensive court costs, and I had no choice," said Booker years later, who lost to Toney by a unanimous decision of the judges after 12 rounds.

Hrgovic believes that he will bring down Booker without any problems.

"I can't wait to fight in America. Booker is a skilled fighter; he had a good fight against Pulev. He kept his distance and won the first couple of rounds; he endured 12 rounds. I can do much better. I will finish this fight earlier. Booker was one of my sparring partners before the fight with Corbin. I know him well, and he knows me well. He scanned me. I am looking forward to the fight. He has good technique and skill, but I am more prepared, and in better shape, and I think he will not be able to bear my strength and pressure," Filip Hrgovic said.

His promoters from Team Sauerland predict that by the end of 2021, Hrgovic will be fighting for the world heavyweight title.

"Filip can hurt any heavyweight at the moment. He has dynamite in both hands, he showed that in the last fight, and he will show it against Booker. Filip must stay in rhythm and fight because a challenging year awaits us. He is ready to fight for the title of champion," said Nisse Sauerland, Hrgovic's promoter, announcing the new fight.

He recently said he would not give up on a deal to fight British boxer, Daniel Dubois.

Sauerland confirmed that the fight is still in the plan, and by the end of 2020, he could be in the ring for the third time.

"After Booker, we hope to fight one more time by the end of the year. We're trying to keep Filip busy and going in the right direction," Sauerland explained.

There have been rumors for some time about the clash between Hrgovic and Dubois, a duel between two upcoming fighters who should be at the top of international boxing for a long time.

"We are definitely considering a fight with Dubois, he is constantly progressing; he is completely different than a few years ago. We will see him as he really is in the next fight against Joe Joyce, in my opinion, it is completely open. But the fight between Dubois and Hrgovic will happen soon, in a year, no matter how Dubois fares against Joyce," Sauerland said, adding that this is the perfect time for Hrgovic to fight for the top of world boxing because the heavyweight division has never been more exciting, after a boring era dominated by the Klitschko brothers.

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