ZAGREB, February 9, 2020 - An association of war veterans with PTSD staged a protest in Samobor on Sunday called "Stop hate speech and intolerance" at which they called on mayor and Croatian Peasant Party president Krešo Beljak to resign over "belittling the veterans' sacrifice."

Participants strongly condemned Beljak's statement that the veterans who protested in Zagreb for months a few years ago were "a few drunks," saying that constituted incitement to civil intolerance.

According to organisers' estimates, the Samobor rally drew about 1,000 protesters. They displayed a banner saying "Croatia is a state of war veterans, not thieves."

"Beljak should immediately step down from all political posts," said psychiatrist Herman Vukušić.

He warned about the high number of suicides and said two veterans died daily at the age of 53 on average.

"The goal is to stop the civil war that has been going on in Croatia for some time, but without bullets," he said, calling for stronger punishment for those who spread hate speech.

Tihomir Trešćec, president of the association, said the "hate rhetoric" was unacceptable. "Calling Croatian veterans a few drunks mustn't be acceptable rhetoric in the public sphere. Among those few drunks were the parents, wives and children of killed defenders who are right to be outraged by such a statement."

Trešćec said there should be more tolerance in public statements, notably by politicians, who he said were public figures and should watch what they said.

"They don't realise that some statements affect people deeply, notably veterans with PTSD," he said, adding that veterans from all over Croatia had come to today's protest.

Josip Mahović, a former Samobor Brigade commander, said the political elite was a criminal organisation which did not care for the public but their own interest. He recalled that Veterans Minister Tomo Medved said he would move a law on the protection of the Homeland War that would envisage punishment for inappropriate statements.

Željko Kekić, a former agent of the Yugoslav secret service UDBA, said many went into the Homeland War under the salute "For the homeland ready", an Ustasha salute that was shouted at today's rally.

"Who has the strength to ban you from saying it? We live in a grotesque state that we didn't want," Kekić said.

Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) president Krešo Beljak said on Sunday he was not impressed by today's veterans' protest in Samobor, calling it an introduction into the election campaign that involved activists from the ruling party and saying he was not intimidated by that.

"They are panicking over what the HSS is advocating, to check the origin of assets and to review pensions, not necessarily veterans' pensions. Someone feels threatened. Why should you or I fear a law whereby how someone acquired their assets would be checked," Beljak said on a Croatian Television talk show.

"Those protesting today are self-proclaimed representatives of all veterans and I ask them, Where were you and why didn't you protest when this state was being plundered during privatisation and today when there are scandals?" Beljak said.

He said he never said anything inappropriate against the Homeland War and that he "never called veterans a few drunks," but "the people... who were harassing all of Zagreb and were toppling the then government (and) harassing former (Veterans) Minister Predrag Matić."

Beljak said he was confident the coalition of the HSS, the Social Democratic Party and some other parties "will assume responsibility for Croatia's future after the (parliamentary) election."

Speaking of upcoming intra-party elections in the ruling HDZ, he said he wanted Prime Minister Andrej Plenković to be re-elected president "because he represents reason in that party and a dam against the most conservative part of Croatia which is gaining strength."

He added, however, that he hoped Plenković would not remain prime minister after the parliamentary election.

More politics news can be found in the dedicated section.

ZAGREB, February 9, 2020 - A 242-year old male ginko biloba tree in the town of Daruvar, about 130 kilometres east of Zagreb, and dubbed "Ginko in love" is Croatia's entry for the European Tree of the Year.

"Ginko in love" was nominated as Croatia's representative in the European Tree of the Year for 2020 after winning the national contest in 2019.

The tree in Daruvar has a luxurious treetop and impressive height and is one of 16 finalists in the prestigious competition that has been organised since 2011.

This year's contest is taking place from February 1 to 29 and is open to a public online vote at www.treeoftheyear.org. This contest does not necessarily choose the wining tree for its beauty but rather it is about the story of the tree and its connections to the local community.

The winning tree will be announced in Brussels on 17 March at an award ceremony marking a decade of the competition.

Ginko is the oldest tree sort on the planet and has existed for more than 200 million years, while Daruvar's ginko is the largest and oldest in all of Croatia and the second oldest in Europe.

The male ginko biloba in Daruvar is called Adam. It is located in front of the southern entrance to the Antun Jankovic castle and is 242 years old. It trunk has a circumference of seven metres and is protected by the Nature Protection Act as a monument of parkland architecture.

A female ginko is growing in Adam's shadow. Her name is Eve. Thanks to their joint history, the story of "Ginko in love" emerged and it was nominated for this year's Tree of the Year contest.

More Daruvar news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

The fourth episode of the already popular ''Mondays with Mate'' is now on YouTube.

Rimac Automobili, owned by beloved Croatian entrepreneur Mate Rimac from Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is one of the country's most incredible business stories and Rimac himself has had to be the one to school the country's politicians on how to attact investment from the automotive industry.

He's no stranger to YouTube, and even recently hired popular Russian YouTuber and car enthusiast Misha Charoudin, who is sure to be providing the talented Mate with video techniques and ideas.

As Goran Jungvirth/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 9th of February, 2020, in the latest episode of ''Mondays with Mate'' YouTube show, Rimac Automobili's founder described the issues of making and operating batteries for the electric hyper cars his company produces.

''What makes Rimac's high-performance EV technology so unique that the other car manufacturers reach out to us for collaboration? In today's episode, Mate will elaborate on Rimac battery technology and answer your questions about future battery technologies,'' states the video's description.

"My parents told me that I was crazy about cars when I was a kid," he said of his obsession, which led him to the position of one of the most famous Croatian businessmen in the world, who managed to attract foreign investors to his company without any problems, with some massive names from the world of cars being linked closely with his company, Rimac Automobili.

In the video, he also explained why his company is just interesting to them, that is, their concept of development that is unique in approach.

Rimac also made his predictions about the development of batteries for electric vehicles in the future.

Watch Mondays with Mate below:

Make sure to follow our dedicated Made in Croatia page for more information on Mate Rimac, Rimac Automobili and other Croatian companies and entrepreneurs.

February 9, 2020 - The re-enactment of the famous Battle of Stubica has fast become a tradition and a well-visited event, held to commemorate the final battle of the so-called Seljačka buna, which took place in 1573.

The battle was the final event of an uprising by the local peasants, who wanted to improve their position during the rule of a cruel Hungarian ruler. They lost, the battle was a bloodbath and in recent years, the tourist workers of the region decided to hold the re-enactments of the event (this year the re-enactment was held for the 12th year in a row).

The battle re-enactment was held near the Stubički Golubovec castle this year, as we've reported when we invited you to participate. More than 300 extras participated in the performance, organized by the association from Donja Stubica dedicated to maintaining the history of the region and the tourist boards from the region. The viewers and the extras that had the roles of the peasants got together in the centre of Donja Stubica, and then walked to the castle where the battle was to take place. The extras were organized in different army branches, had different historical arms (including bows and arrows, crossbows etc.)

In addition to the re-enactment itself, the all-day event included a fair dedicated to old crafts, as well as some entertainment: Let 3, an alternative punk rock band from Rijeka performed in the evening.

As Glas Istre/Novi List writes on the 9th of February, 2020, meet the latest creation from the gastro workshop of King's Cafe from Rijeka - Monada.

Monada is described as a real refreshing drink for girls and young men, as the slogan of this, otherwise the very first Croatian ''craft cola'' goes. This is the first refreshing drink after Rijeka's legendary Ler and the new King's Cafe brand, which gave birth to Monada but then gave it an independent life all of its own.

''Monada is a craft cola because we played with it a bit so that it doesn't follow the standard rounds of cola on the Croatian market. The taste of Monada is smooth and pleasant. It's a lounge drink for teetotallers. You can chill out with it, not just gulp it down like cola,'' explains Tomislav Juretic, the new Croatian drink's creative guru, who designed this refreshing drink along with Vedran Jakominic and Igor Matetic.

In the production of this drink, some ingredients are used that don't go into the its standard counterparts, such as hops instead of phosphoric acid, which gives it a special aroma. The hops are credited for Monada's smooth taste, and it's also a link to the beer side of the King's Cafe story.

''Monada is as natural as it can be. It doesn't have that element of a standard industrial cola that removes sediment and even cleans toilets, and it doesn't contain any artificial sweeteners or colours. All of the production material comes from the Rijeka area, including the limes and oranges from Rijeka's market and ice from Rijeka's petrol stations,'' Juretic jokes.

So far, the new Rijeka drink is only available as highly experimental samples, but it will soon be able to be tasted by the general public. The first public tasting was organised on the night of Rijeka's European Capital of Culture opening. The initial reactions were more than positive.

''People were very pleased. In the meantime, we've devised a special way of serving Monada so that everyone can enjoy its taste in the right way. It will be served in a round glass, full of ice, with a slice of orange and lime, and with dried blueberries and cardamom. By doing that, the drink is presented in the right way.

It's a drink that is not to be drunk in a hurry, but should be enjoyed slowly so that all the flavours are combined and felt in the right way. Since this is a craft drink, I think it's okay to consume it that way. The Croatian craft scene of alcoholic beverages has been developing a lot lately, and we decided to create a craft with Monada that people who don't drink alcohol can enjoy,'' explains Juretic.

However the ''sober'' population of the country responds to Croatia's very first craft cola, and the first tasters have responded really well, several alcoholic cocktails with Monada have already been designed. Each cocktail bears an interesting name, which evokes various associations with the taste of these drinks.

''It goes well with Pelin (wormwood), so we decided to call it Sette Bandiere. Monada brings the best out of the Pelin, which is then a wonderful drink. Fiume Libera, in turn, is the name of a combination of Monada and cynara, while ginger mixed with Monada is called Skribanda. Black Adder, or Black Goose, is a combination of King's Stout and Monada. The first tasters say it's great,'' added Vedran Jakominic.

''Our idea is to encourage positivity. As Red Bull sponsors extreme sports, Monada will encourage all those events where ordinary people come out of their shells,'' Vedran Jakominic concluded.

Make sure to follow our Made in Croatia page for more.

As Novac/Marina Klepo writes on the 9th of February, 2020, in the past year, since the Croatian Government expanded work opportunities for retirees, many Croatian retired people have taken this opportunity.

Last November, according to HZMO data, there were 11,737 pensioners who had taken up work under the measures. Whereas back at the end of 2016, for example, there were only about 2,600 retirees engaged in such work, about a year later, there were about 3,500, and at the end of 2018, there were 4,600. Who are these Croatian retired people willing to extend their time on the labour market?

Most of them are men, who make up 7,246 or 62 percent of the total employees. According to the chosen occupations, as shown by HZMO statistics for the first eleven months of 2019, this opportunity was mostly used by experts in industries and scientists, 2,282 of them.This means that almost every fifth employed pensioner is an expert in their field or a scientist.

This was followed by engineers and technicians (1,730), followed by managers, members and officials of legislative and state bodies, and directors (1,729), and in fourth place came service and commercial professions (1,383). It follows that the people who are the most interested in working during their retirement are those working in better paid positions.

However, when looking at the activities they're engaged in, the first place is shop work, employing about 2,200 Croatian retired people, the second is the manufacturing industry with 1,500 pensioners, and more than a thousand are in the construction industry. About 800 of them work in transport and warehousing, as many work in health and social care, while about 400 are engaged in the field of education. The ability to work four hours per day for pensioners in Croatia was first legalised by former Labour Minister Mirando Mrsic. At the time, the opportunity was only available to those who had reached legal retirement age.

At the beginning of last year, the possibility of employing pensioners, while still fully retaining their pension, was extended to those who had for whatever reason retired early. Thus, at the end of last year, 3,073 people who had retired early were employed, and 8,815 of them were at Croatia's normal retirement age.

An additional benefit is reserved for active duty military personnel, police officers and mine clearance workers who can choose whether to work for up to four hours a day while retaining a full pension, or to be employed full-time and receive 50 percent of their pension.

Work under this scheme for Croatian retired people also gives them the opportunity to receive a higher pension. A pensioner who is employed for four hours a day may request a new pension calculation after two years of being engaged in such work.

Make sure to follow our lifestyle page for more.

February the 9th, 2020 - The Mayor of Zagreb is a colourful fellow. Mired in controversy and often the culprit in many an eyebrow-raising, funny, or just plain ridiculous story - Milan Bandic has seen (and probably done) it all. In his many years serving the City of Zagreb as mayor, many a scandal has found itself at his doorstep. With USKOK (Bureau for Combating Corruption and Organised Crime) now hot on his heels, let's take a look at what we've found out about Milan Bandic in the last week or so alone.

Milan Bandic holds the citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Hold your horses, you might say, many Croats and indeed many citizens of neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina hold each other's citizenship. You'd be right. Zdravko Mamic, Dinamo Zagreb's former main man, who also spent much of his time in a quagmire of controversy, also holds citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He used his second passport as a way to escape justice in Croatia and live just over the border in Medjugorje - Bosnia typically does not extradite its citizens. 

Could Milan Bandic be thinking along the same lines now that certain unwanted events from his past are catching up with him more and more quickly? Potentially. According to the Croatian media, it isn't known just when Bandic obtained citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the appropriate ministry doesn't want to reveal it. Telegram reports that according to checks carried out, Milan Bandic, who was indeed born in Grude, Bosnia and Herzegovina, does hold citizenship of the country and it seems he obtained citizenship based on ethnicity/descent.

Bandic was born in 1955 in Grude, and then held what was Yugoslavian citizenship. He has held Croatian citizenship since Croatia declared independence, and has lived in Zagreb since 1974. Bandic believes questions about his second citizenship are ''racist questions'', as he made sure to say in response to questioning from a journalist. 

''I'm a citizen of Croatia and I'll be the President of Croatia. Your question is racist,'' exclaimed Milan Bandic when asked about him holding citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina back in 2009. 

Milan Bandic divorced his wife so he could acquire a cheap apartment

Marital bliss means very little when there's a bargain to be had. 24 years ago, Milan and his wife Vesna apparently went through a rough patch, which all relationships and marriages go through at some point or another. They filed for divorce in 1996 and their very short-lived divorce was amicable and friendly, as the then ex-husband, Milan Bandic, immediately approved his ex-wifes request to buy an apartment for a price seven times lower than its market value.

Cunning? An insult to marriage? Or just plain old good sense in a world of unpredictable inflation? Click here to read our full report on the situation and decide for yourself.

Milan Bandic has a Croatian diplomatic passport

So what? You might ask. He's a prominent Croatian politician and he's the mayor of the capital city of the holder of the rotating EU presidency. Well, it seems that Milan Bandic has taken up the hobby of collecting passports and other travel documents. Along with him holding the citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he has now got his hands on a Croatian diplomatic passport. As Telegram reports, that information was confirmed to Index by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

This document, as should be emphasised, belongs to the Mayor of Zagreb under the Law on Travel Documents; for official travel abroad, and a number of Croatian officials have the right to obtain a diplomatic passport.

These include, for example, the President of the Republic of Croatia, the Prime Minister, government ministers, the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, the heads of the Constitutional and Supreme Courts, MPs, the Attorney General, directors and secretaries in the ministries, and the President of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK).

Diplomatic passport users can cross the border faster and easier, their luggage isn't checked, and they basically don't have to go through the endless waiting and treatment from airport staff and border guards that is... let's just say ''lacking''.

Milan Bandic exercised this right and his diplomatic passport was issued to him on the 16th of June, 2015, and is valid until the 16th of June, 2020.

The aforementioned law is highly convenient in Croatian circumstances (of course it is). By his function, Nadan Vidosevic, who was arrested on the 12th of November, 2013, charged with misappropriating 32.9 million kuna from the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, could also take out a diplomatic passport. Once again, you can come to your own conclusions about that and what it might imply.

USKOK claims Milan Bandic was found in possession of a 40 million kuna fraud document

As Ana Raic Knezevic/Telegram reported on the 5th of February, 2020, Milan Bandic was questioned on the aforementioned date as a witness on the continuation of the process in the dry ice affair. The allegations are against former Zvonimir Sostar, who has been one of Milan's closest associates for many years.

In Sostar's tenure, between 2006 and 2013, the City of Zagreb's budget was scammed by a little less than 40 million kuna in the affair according to USKOK. USKOK claims that fictitious bills were being paid to clean air conditioners in sports halls across Zagreb, though that work was largely not carried out.

Bandic says he only heard about that case in passing. He remembers learning that the sanitary inspection had ordered the air-conditioners to be cleaned because of the risk of Legionnaires disease, but he left everything else, he claims, to his good friend Zvonimir Sostar.

To counter his claims, USKOK then presented Bandic with a document found in his own home which was discovered during a search after his 2014 arrest. This paper shows certain budget items, one of which is particularly clear in reference to the dry ice affair. Bandic, as he himself admitted, wrote on it "10 percent", "15 percent", "300,000", and then "Mirna must ask Anica". Therefore, it concludes that Bandic was much more involved in the case than he cared to admit.

"I'm not a chemist and I don't know what dry ice is. I know I have an air conditioner at home, but I don't know how it gets cleaned. This was a working document on the redistribution of funds in the budget, and Mirna Situm, then head of the department, had to consult with Anica Tav, the assistant to the Public Procurement Office,'' Milan Bandic said without explaining, however, why he kept that document in his own house.

The indictment charges Zvonimir Sostar, former head of the City of Zagreb's Office of Health, Labour, Social Welfare and Veterans' Affairs, with having agreed with Davor Ljubic, the owner of Ekotours, at the beginning of 2006, to provide him with the job of cleaning the air conditioning and ventilation systems in the sports halls of the City of Zagreb. According to Sostar's promise, Ljubic would have all the expenses, including transportation and fees, paid for from the City of Zagreb's budget.

Although in the end, the City of Zagreb did not provide the funds from the budget, Sostar nevertheless initiated an air conditioner cleanup programme, launching public tenders in which, according to USKOK, clearly favoured Ljubic. The cleaning method was just expensive "dry ice". Ljubic was paid according to the invoices, regardless of whether the work was done, the indictment alleges.

In addition, the investigators found that there was not much control over the work carried out at all. The indictment alleges that Sostar hired Mira Loncar, a health expert at the City of Zagreb's Office of Health, Labour, Social Welfare and Veterans' Affairs, to compile the bidding documents that would best suit Ekotours. She did so, and Ljubic's company got the job very easily, USKOK claims.

According to USKOK, Loncar knew that Ekotours hadn't done some of the work and that part of the cleanup hadn't been accomplished using "dry ice", as had been previously agreed. The city received a 52.4 million kuna invoice by 2013, while it is suspected that Ekotours did work worth a mere 13.4 million kuna. However, Sostar still approved the payment of all of Ljubic's invoices. As a result, he is charged with nearly 39 million kuna in damages to the city budget.

The indictment further alleges that Sostar paid Ljubic off by paying for his travel, hotels and even for fishing. In total, it is suspected that the former city health minister received 177,000 kuna in bribes.

The second indictment charges Ljubic with fraudulent business relationships with several private companies, which falsified his accounts in order to justify the enormous value of the business he did. He paid the money to his alleged subcontractors, but it was just a way to get the money out of Ekotours' account. At the same time, Ljubic were allowed to avoid paying taxes on profit and VAT.

In total, between January 2014 and December the 31st, 2015, according to the indictment, 2.2 million kuna in tax was evaded. Ljubic and his director, Zonja are also accused of faking business books and money laundering. Some of the defendants involved in this chain of drawing money out of the city budget have previously pleaded guilty. They have agreed with USKOK on relatively lenient fines, and they have to pay back some of the illegally earned money.

Citizens of Zagreb paid for a full page of advertisements in the newspaper, just for Milan Bandic to tell his ''truth''

According to a repoty from Telegram on the 8th of February, 2020, an advertisement with the official logo of the City of Zagreb appeared in the papers.

"Dear residents of Zagreb...'' the ad text begins, "we have been witnessing for a long time, and especially over recent days, various pieces of information related to the GUP Amendments is coming to you."

It goes on to say that the atmosphere of "politicking and manipulation at all costs" prevails in the public space, so the ''facts'' and the ''real truth'' have been lost sight of. So now the city government has decided to publish their side, with the word TRUTH (ISTINA) being repeated rather strangely in each and every paragraph.

There are many points made, but none explain why Mayor Milan Bandic doesn't set his arguments out with the use of regular channels, which recently serve him mostly for insulting journalists. Instead, he seems happy for Zagreb's citizens to pay for the publication of these advertisements without being asked.

Now we've covered five of the latest scandals, controversies and face-palm moments related to Milan Bandic, we'll do our best, as Plenkovic desires, to get back to ''focusing on Croatia's EU Presidency'' and hope these constant skeletons in closets stop falling out at such an incredible pace.

Follow our politics page for more.

February 9, 2020 - Will there be a trilogy fight between Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier? UFC president Dana White weighs in.

In an interview with ESPN, Dana White revealed that the UFC is only waiting for Stipe Miocic to set up the third fight against Daniel Cormier.

"It's very clear. Miocic is hurt. When he's not, we'll make the fight. You saw Cormier basically come out and say, 'Stipe has the ability to retire me. If he doesn't take this fight, I'm going to retire.' We'll see how this thing plays out," White said.

Current heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic recently received a medical license to return to training, but the status of his injured eye is still not ideal.

Last August, Miocic avenged Cormier for the July 2018 defeat, returning the heavyweight title to his name. The roles have now reversed, and it is Daniel Cormier who is looking for a rematch.

"I have offered him other fights," White said of Cormier. "But he feels Stipe is the fight he can get up for. That's what he wants. And he doesn't want anyone else. I can't make him fight anyone else. He needs to do it. I'd like to see that fight happen," the UFC president added.

Current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones also recently stated that he "really wants to fight Stipe Miocic and that he is convinced that he can beat him."

"I would love to see it.  I would love to see him go on and take on Stipe or any of the top five guys in the heavyweight division. That's up to him. He can stay at light heavyweight and keep knocking them down and creating this incredible legacy, basically being the Tom Brady of the UFC."

UFC circles have often mentioned a ‘trilogy fight’ between Miocic and Cormier, which would determine the true winner once and for all. But is that really what the people want? 

Stipe Miocic hit the streets of New York for The Players’ Tribune to find out more last month. 

In the video, fans mention the obvoius Cormier,  two-time UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones, and Irish Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor. How likely the latter is, we aren't so sure.

Miocic has been given medical clearance for his eye injury and even said he resumed sparring last month.

“I’m better – a lot better. It’s healed up. I’m taking my time with it because I’m 37, so I don’t want to injure it again. I want to be able to see out of both eyes when I get older. That’s all I really care about right now. I love fighting, but my health is more important.

I’ve been trying to spar a little bit. It’s been rough because I’ve not sparred in over five months. The guys that I take it out on would take it out on me. It’s not been fun. I’m thinking about that in the back of my mind,” Miocic said on MMA Junkie. 

So, will Miocic face Cormier next?

“Not right now. I just got cleared. I’m taking my time getting back into the swing of things. We’ll figure it out and see what happens,” the fighter concluded. 

Stipe Miocic is often regarded as one of the greatest heavyweights in the history of the MMA, is a two-time and current UFC Heavyweight Champion, and was the first fighter to win three straight UFC heavyweight title defenses. 

Will there be a trilogy fight between Miocic and Cormier? Only time will tell. 

Furthermore, after the highly anticipated Tyson Fury/Deontay Wilder fight on February 22, 2020, Stipe Miocic announced that he wanted to fight the new WBC heavyweight titleholder. Namely, Miocic addressed the 'Gypsy King' in a Twitter post after the fight, expressing that he wanted to jump in the ring with Fury, too. 

"Congrats Tyson Fury. I'd love to sing Sweet Caroline in the ring. Let's do this," Miocic said. 

This comes after Fury expressed his desire to fight Miocic for ESPN back in November. 

"Stipe says he wants to box me -- that would be a good fight for sure," Fury said through management company MTK Global. "After I get [Deontay] Wilder out of the way, I'll fight Stipe in a boxing match if he wants it. It would be a big crossover fight like [Floyd] Mayweather and [Conor] McGregor. I'm open to that fight, so he should come and see me. It would be the same outcome for any of them. They'll all get smashed."

Miocic also said he was more interested in a boxing match with Fury than a third fight with Daniel Cormier. 

"Tyson Fury is coming in the mix now, I hear. I like a new challenge. I'd love to box him. He's a great fighter. He's a good dude, and I think we'd put on a good show."

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.